Synthesis and Self‐Assembly of Amphiphilic Diblock Copolymers using a Fluorescently Labeled N‐Alkoxyamine Initiator

Summary: An initiator for nitroxide mediated ‘living’ free radical polymerization was prepared with a fluorescent tag attached to the initiating alkyl radical terminus. This was used to synthesize amphiphilic poly(acrylic acid)‐block‐polystyrene diblock copolymers, which self assembled in a tetrahydrofuran/buffer solution to form structures that are visible by fluorescence.