Methacrylic acid maa

The industrial-grade, low-viscosity aliphatic triepoxidetriglycidyl ether of trimethylolethane (Erisys GE-31), abbreviated to TMETGE, was purchased from Huntsman, (Houston, TX, USA). Acrylic acid (AA) and methacrylic acid (MAA), both stabilized with hydroquinone with a purity of 99.5%, was supplied by Acros Organics (Geel, Belgium). Triphenylphosphine (PPh3), Apollo Scientific, Bredbury, UK, was used as a catalyst in the reaction between TMETGE and AA or MAA, while hydroquinone (HQ, Acros Organics, Geel, Belgium) was used as a polymerization inhibitor. All chemicals were employed as received.
The following titration reagents and indicators were used: glacial acetic acid, toluene, potassium hydroxide standard solution 0.1 M in ethanol (KOH) and crystal violet purchased from Chempur (Piekary Śląskie, Poland); chloroform from PPH Stanlab (Lublin, Poland); ethyl alcohol from Avantor (Gliwice, Poland); tetraethylammonium bromide provided by Acros Organics (Geel, Belgium); perchloric acid standard solution 0.1 M in glacial acetic acid supplied by Fischer Chemicals AG (Zurich, Switzerland); phenolophtalein 1% in ethyl alcohol solution from Eurochem BGD (Tarnów, Poland). All chemicals were analytical grade and were used as received.

All manipulations were performed under an inert atmosphere of dry argon by using Schlenk line techniques. Solvents were dried by standard procedures and distilled under argon prior to use. 4,4′-azobis(4-cyanopentanoic acid) (ACPA, >98%, Fluka, Saint-Quentin Fallavier, France), methacrylic acid (MAA, 99.5%, Acros, Illkirch, France), poly(ethylene oxide) methyl ether methacrylate (PEOMA, M_n = 950 g·mol⁻¹, Aldrich, Saint-Quentin Fallavier, France), di(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (DEGDMA, 95%, Aldrich), 1,3,5-trioxane (Aldrich, >99%), acetylacetonato-dicarbonyl rhodium(I), ([Rh(acac)(CO)₂], 99% Strem, Bischeim, France) and chloro(1,5-cyclooctadiene) rhodium(I) dimer ([Rh(COD)Cl]₂, 98%, Strem, Bischeim, France) were used as received. Styrene (S, 99%, Acros, Saint-Quentin Fallavier, France) was purified by passing through a column of active basic aluminum oxide to remove the stabilizer. 4-[Bis(p-methoxyphenyl)phosphino]styrene (BMOPPS) [8 (link)] and the RAFT agent 4-cyano-4-thiothiopropylsulfanyl pentanoic acid (CTPPA) [44 (link)] were synthesized according to the published procedures. Latexes of core cross-linked nanoparticles functionalized by triphenylphosphine (TPP@CCM) [7 (link)] and by bis(p-methoxyphenyl)phenylphosphine (BMOPPP@CCM) [8 (link)] were prepared as recently described. The characteristics of the used latexes are summarized in Table 1.