Controlled Free-Radical Polymerization: New Breath in a Mature Technology

Abstract The controlled (or “living”) radical polymerization techniques, nitroxide-mediated radical polymerization, atom transfer radical polymerization, reversible addition fragmentation chain-transfer polymerization, methods based on iniferters are reviewed. For each technique a brief historical profile is given, and the mechanism, features, and applications are discussed. A few examples of the macromolecular architectures that can be achieved through these techniques are reported and some implementations and developments from industrial companies are presented.