Controlled/Living Free-Radical Polymerization of Styrene and n-Butyl Acrylate in the Presence of a Novel Asymmetric Nitroxyl Radical

Diastereomeric excess upon cleavage and reformation of diastereomeric alkoxyamines

The thermal reactions of several TEMPO and DEPN (N-(2-methylpropan-2-yl)-N-(1-diethylphosphono-2,2-dimethylpropyl)-aminoxyl) based alkoxyamines were studied by means of (1)H and (31)P NMR spectroscopy aiming to distinguish the contributions of diastereoselective homolysis and coupling to the total equilibrium diastereomeric distribution. The TEMPO-based compounds reveal no diastereomeric excess while DEPN based compounds show a moderate excess both upon homolysis and coupling. The diastereomeric preference of homolysis for DEPN-(propionate-like) adducts does not depend on the ester group and it is mainly affected by the size of beta-substituents. The diastereoselective coupling is sensitive to the total recombination rate constant k(c) and diastereoselectivity increases with the decrease of k(c). Small diastereoselective coupling is found in the recombination of DEPN with sec-butyl isobutyrate radical, where no prochiral centers are formed upon cleavage of corresponding alkoxyamine.

Influence of the Nitroxide Structure on the Homolysis Rate Constant of Alkoxyamines: A Taft−Ingold Analysis

Alkoxyamines and persistent nitroxyl radicals are important regulators of living radical polymerizations. Because polymerization times decrease with the increasing rate of the homolytic C-O bond cleavage between the polymer chain and the nitroxide moiety, the factors influencing the homolysis rate are of considerable interest. Here, we present an analysis of the cleavage rate constants for 28 alkoxyamines carrying the styryl (PhEt) group as leaving alkyl radical in terms of polar inductive/field (sigmaL) and steric (Es) effects of the nitroxide substituents, using the Taft-Ingold equation, i.e., log(k/k0) = rhoLsigmaL + deltaEs. The rate constants are shown to increase with the increasing electron-donating capacities, the steric demand, and the intramolecular (hydrogen) bonding capabilities of the substituents. A good correlation, (R2 = 0.95, 23 data) log kd = -3.07sigmaL - 0.88Es - 5.88, is obtained, which should facilitate the design of new nitroxyl radicals and alkoxyamine regulators.