An efficient avenue to poly(styrene)‐block‐poly(ε‐caprolactone) polymers via switching from RAFT to hydroxyl functionality: Synthesis and characterization |
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| Authors: | Christina Schmid Jana Falkenhagen Christopher Barner‐Kowollik |
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| Institution: | 1. Preparative Macromolecular Chemistry, Institut für Technische Chemie und Polymerchemie, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engesserstr. 18, 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany;2. BAM, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Richard‐Willstaetter‐Strasse 11, D‐12489 Berlin, Germany |
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| Abstract: | The recently introduced procedure of quantitatively switching thiocarbonyl thio capped (RAFT) polymers into hydroxyl terminated species was employed to generate narrow polydispersity (PDI ≈ 1.2) sulfur‐free poly(styrene)‐block‐poly(ε‐caprolactone) polymers (26,000 ≤ Mn/g·mol?1 < 45,000). The ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of ε‐caprolactone (ε‐CL) was conducted under organocatalysis employing 1,5,7‐triazabicyclo4.4.0]dec‐5‐ene (TBD). The obtained block copolymers were thoroughly analyzed via size exclusion chromatography (SEC), NMR, as well as liquid adsorption chromatography under critical conditions coupled to SEC (LACCC‐SEC) to evidence the block copolymer structure and the efficiency of the synthetic process. The current contribution demonstrates that the RAFT process can serve as a methodology for the generation of sulfur‐free block copolymers via an efficient end group switch. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2010 |
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| Keywords: | 2D‐liquid chromatography end group transformation LACCC‐SEC reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer ring‐opening polymerization soft ionization mass spectrometry |
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