Synthesis of N-benzyl-2-(dodecylthio)-N-(2-(dodecylthio)ethyl)ethanamine: new ligand for block copolymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate using ATRP

In this study polystyrene and polystyrene-block-poly (methyl methacrylate-co-styrene) were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) method using a new synthesized ligand, N-benzyl-2-(dodecylthio)-N-(2-(dodecylthio)ethyl)ethanamine (SNS), which is tridentate ligand with mixed donor atoms. To overcome the poor initiation efficiency of polystyrene during chain extension with methyl methacrylate, use was made of halogen exchange and a small amount (10%) of styrene in the second block of the copolymer. The use of the aforementioned yielded well-defined polymers with controlled high molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions (Mn = 52,200, PDI = 1.45). The synthesized polymers were carefully characterized via FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and GPC techniques. Finally, the synthesized polystyrene and block copolymer were compared in terms of water contact angle.