Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is an example of a reversible-deactivation radical polymerization. Like its counterpart, ATRA, or atom transfer radical addition, ATRP is a means of forming a carbon-carbon bond with a transition metalcatalyst. Polymerization from this method is called atom transfer radical addition polymerization (ATRAP). As the name implies, the atom transfer step is crucial in the reaction responsible for uniform polymer chain growth. ATRP (or transition metal-mediated living radical polymerization) was independently discovered by Mitsuo Sawamoto[1] and by Krzysztof Matyjaszewski and Jin-Shan Wang in 1995.[2][3]
The following scheme presents a typical ATRP reaction:
General ATRP reaction. A. Initiation. B. Equilibrium with dormant species. C. Propagation
Controlled reversible-deactivation radical polymerization in which the deactivation of the radicals involves reversible atom transfer or reversible group transfer catalyzed usually, though not exclusively, by transition-metal complexes.[4]
^Kato, M; Kamigaito, M; Sawamoto, M; Higashimura, T (1995). "Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate with the Carbon Tetrachloride / Dichlorotris-(triphenylphosphine)ruthenium(II) / Methylaluminum Bis(2,6-di-tert-butylphenoxide) Initiating System: Possibility of Living Radical Polymerization". Macromolecules. 28 (5): 1721–1723. Bibcode:1995MaMol..28.1721K. doi:10.1021/ma00109a056.
^Wang, J-S; Matyjaszewski, K (1995). "Controlled/"living" radical polymerization. Atom transfer radical polymerization in the presence of transition-metal complexes". J. Am. Chem. Soc.117 (20): 5614–5615. doi:10.1021/ja00125a035.