Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is an example of a living polymerization

Living polymerization

In polymer chemistry, living polymerization is a form of addition polymerization where the ability of a growing polymer chain to terminate has been removed. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways. Chain termination and chain transfer reactions are absent and the rate of chain initiation is...

 or a controlled/living radical polymerization (CRP). Like its counter part, ATRA or atom transfer radical addition, it is a means of forming carbon-carbon bond through transition metal

Transition metal

The term transition metal has two possible meanings:*The IUPAC definition states that a transition metal is "an element whose atom has an incomplete d sub-shell, or which can give rise to cations with an incomplete d sub-shell." Group 12 elements are not transition metals in this definition.*Some...

 catalyst. As the name implies, the atom transfer step is the key step in the reaction responsible for uniform polymer

Polymer

A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units. These subunits are typically connected by covalent chemical bonds...

 chain growth. ATRP (or transition metal-mediated living radical polymerization) was independently discovered by Mitsuo Sawamoto et al. and by Jin-Shan Wang

Jin-Shan Wang

Jin-Shan Wang , is a Chinese organic chemist. Wang is the current Zhi Yuan Chair Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Chemical Engineering....

 and Krzysztof Matyjaszewski

Krzysztof Matyjaszewski

Krzysztof Matyjaszewski is a Polish-American chemist. He is the J.C. Warner Professor of the Natural Sciences at the Carnegie Mellon University Matyjaszewski is best known for the discovery of atom transfer radical polymerization , a novel method of polymer synthesis that has revolutionized the...

 in 1995.