Fundamentals and Practical Aspects of “Living” Radical Polymerization

Living radical polymerization is very difficult if not impossible to realize. Complete elimination of chain breaking reactions, especially termination, is not possible in radical processes. Therefore quotation marks are used for a term of “living” radical polymerization. However, well-defined polymers with predetermined molecular weights, low polydispersities and terminal functionalities as well as block copolymers can be prepared via radical polymerization. Thus, although complete suppression of termination is not possible, preparation of controlled polymers with relatively low molecular weights has been successful. In this article fundamentals and some practical synthetic aspects of controlled radical polymerization will be discussed.