A well-defined hydroxyl terminated poly(2-ethylhexyl acrylate) was prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of 2-ethylhexyl acrylate

followed by the nucleophilic substitution of the bromo end group with N-methylethanolamine.Poly(2-ethylhexyl acrylate-urethane) was then synthesized by reacting the hydroxyl terminated poly(2-ethylhexyl acrylate) with toluene diisocyanate (TDI).The polymers were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR)

gel permeation chromatography (GPC)

differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis(TGA).The results showed that a hydroxyl terminated poly(2-ethylhexyl acrylate) with Mn of 2000 and OH functionality of about 1.80 was synthesized by ATRP.The glass transition temperature (Tg) of the hydroxyl terminated poly(2-ethylhexyl acrylate) was about -62℃

which was slightly higher than that of 2-ethylhexyl acrylate homopolymer.The decomposition temperature of the hydroxyl terminated poly(2-ethylhexyl acrylate) was around 409℃.Poly(2-ethylhexyl acrylate-urethane) with Mn of about 10200 was prepared by reacting hydroxyl terminated poly(2-ethylhexyl acrylate) with toluene diisocyanate (TDI)

which had a glass transition temperature (Tg) of about -54℃.