the difficulty in synthesizing these polymer structures. Although free radical polymerization 23 is one of the most versatile and convenient methods to prepare a seemingly unlimited range of homo-and copolymers, it does not offer the possibility to control the polymer microstructure. Living ionic polymerization techniques, 24 on the other hand, are particularly suited for preparing well-defined polymer architectures, but also extremely 2
Synthesis of Functional Polyolefin Block and GraftCopolymers: a Literature Review 1 Synopsis: In this chapter, a review is presented on the methods reported in literature for preparing functionalized polyolefins such as polyolefin block and graft copolymers. Various methods are briefly reviewed, among which chemical modification of preformed polyolefins, (block) copolymerization of olefins with functional monomers in the presence of metallocene catalysts, and living anionic polymerization. Furthermore, possible applications are described of recently developed living radical polymerization techniques as nitroxide-mediated living radical polymerization, atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), and reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization in the preparation of functional polyolefin block and graft copolymers.