The living dead – common misconceptions about reversible deactivation radical polymerization

Abstract

‘Living/controlled’ radical polymerization, preferably termed ‘reversible deactivation radical polymerization’ (RDRP), is now a well-established technique to generate functional and complex polymer architectures for the design of next generation soft matter materials. We have noticed, however, that there exists some confusion in the literature on how the living character of an RDRP process is adequately established. The purpose of the current article is therefore to provide a tutorial on the basic principles governing RDRP processes.