methacrylate (MMA, 99%), ethyl methacrylate
(EMA, 99%), n-butyl methacrylate (BMA, 99%), n-hexyl methacrylate (HMA, 99%), DMAEMA (99%), and MAA (99.5%)
were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Gillingham, U.K.) and were passed
through a basic alumina column to remove inhibitor prior to polymerization.
2-Ethylhexyl methacrylate (EHMA, 98%) was purchased from Alfa Aesar
(Heysham, U.K.), and its inhibitor was removed using an alumina column.
Isopropanol (IPA, 99.9%), triethanolamine (TEA, 99%), 4,4′-azobis(4-cyanovaleric
acid) (ACVA), 1,4-dioxane (99.5%), trimethylsilyldiazomethane solution
(2.0 M in diethyl ether), benzyl bromide (BzBr, 98%), and deuterated
acetone were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. Deuterated chloroform (CDCl3) and deuterated dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO-d6) for NMR spectroscopy measurements were purchased from
VWR (Lutterworth, U.K.). Deionized water was obtained using an Elgastat
Option 3A water purifier (Elga, High Wycombe, U.K.). 4-Cyano-4-(2-phenylethanesulfanylthiocarbonyl)sulfanylpentanoic
acid (PETTC) used for RAFT polymerization was prepared and purified
in-house, as reported previously.35 (link) Unless
stated otherwise, all materials were used as received.