Iron(III)‐Mediated ATRP of Methyl Methacrylate Using Activators Generated by Electron Transfer

A novel procedure, atom‐transfer radical polymerization using activators generated by electron transfer (AGET ATRP) mediated by iron catalyst, was developed, using an oxidatively stable FeCl3/triphenylphosphine as a catalyst complex, ascorbic acid as a reducing agent, and methyl methacrylate as a monomer. The polymerization can be conducted successfully in the presence of a limited amount of air and shows the features of “living”/controlled free‐radical polymerizations such as number‐average molecular weights increasing linearly with monomer conversion and narrow molecular weight distributions. The living feature of the obtained polymer was further verified by a chain extension experiment. magnified image