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 degrees 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-Tudos 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.