RAFT Polymerization of Vinyl Esters: Synthesis and Applications

This article is the first comprehensive review on the study and use of vinyl ester monomers in reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. It covers all the synthetic aspects associated with the definition of precision polymers comprising poly(vinyl ester) building blocks, such as the choice of RAFT agent and reaction conditions in order to progress from simple to complex macromolecular architectures. Although vinyl acetate was by far the most studied monomer of the range, many vinyl esters have been considered in order to tune various polymer properties, in particular, solubility in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2). A special emphasis is given to novel poly(vinyl alkylate)s with enhanced solubilities in scCO2, with applications as reactive stabilizers for dispersion polymerization and macromolecular surfactants for CO2 media. Other miscellaneous uses of poly(vinyl ester)s synthesized by RAFT, for instance as a means to produce poly(vinyl alcohol) with controlled characteristics for use in the biomedical area, are also covered.