Cyclodextrins in polymer chemistry: Influence of methylated β-cyclodextrin as host on the free radical copolymerization reactivity ratios of isobornyl acrylate and butyl acrylate as guest monomers in aqueous medium

Methylated β-cyclodextrin (me-β-CD) was used to complex the hydrophobic monomers isobornyl acrylate ( 1 ) and butyl acrylate (2) yielding the water-soluble host/guest complexes isobornyl acrylate/me-β-CD ( 1a ) and butyl acrylate/me-β-CD ( 2a ). The included monomers were copolymerized in water by free-radical mechanism and the kinetics were studied. In order to evaluate these results, the corresponding uncomplexed monomers 1 and 2 were also copolymerized in organic solution. The reactivity ratios of 1a and 2a (r _1a = 0.3, r _2a = 1.7) differ significantly from the reactivity ratios of the corresponding uncomplexed acrylates 1 and 2 in organic solution (r ₁ = 1.3, r ₂ = 1.0). In addition, we found that the weight averages of the copolymers prepared by using me-β-CD are significantly higher than those of the corresponding polymers prepared from uncomplexed monomers in organic solution.