RAFT Copolymerization of Glycidyl Methacrylate and N, N-Dimethylaminoethyl Methacrylate.

In this work, copolymerization of two functional monomers, glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and N, N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA), was firstly carried out via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization successfully. The copolymerization kinetics was investigated under the molar ratio of n[GMA+DMAEMA]0/ n[AIBN]0/ n[CPDN]0=300/1/3 at 60°C. The copolymerization showed typical "living" features such as first-order polymerization kinetics, linear increase of molecular weight with monomer conversion and narrow molecular weight distribution. The reactivity ratios of GMA and DMAEMA were calculated by the extended Kelen-Tüdös linearization methods. The epoxy group of the copolymer PGMA- co-PDMAEMA remained intact under the conditions of RAFT copolymerization and could easily be post-modified by ethylenediamine. Moreover, the modified copolymer could be used as a gene carrier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]