Three‐ and four‐arm star shaped polymers, as well as diblock copolymers, are synthesized via acyclic diene metathesis (ADMET) polymerization. This is accomplished by using an asymmetric α,ω‐diene containing a terminal double bond and an acrylate, which is polymerized in the presence of multifunctional acrylates as selective and irreversible chain transfer agents using Hoveyda‐Grubbs second generation catalyst. High cross‐metathesis selectivities are achieved at low temperatures enabling good control over molecular weights. Furthermore, additional polyethyleneglycol (PEG) blocks are attached to these polymers via Heck coupling of the acrylate end‐groups of these polymers with aryl iodide functionalized PEG, obtaining three‐ and four‐arm star shaped di‐ and triblock copolymers with molecular weights up to 31 kDa.
In a recent publication, Nakamura and co‐workers studied the termination mechanism in the radical polymerization of acrylates. Contrary to conventional thinking, their conclusion is that termination is overwhelmingly by disproportionation. This finding impacts on a large body of the previous work in the polymerization of acrylic monomers which this work seeks to address. Analysis of the molecular weight distribution of acrylic polymers obtained under different polymerization conditions shows that termination by combination is the more probable mechanism for mutual termination of secondary radicals. It is proposed that in the experiments conducted by Nakamura and co‐workers, backbiting plays a key role and their experimental data are reinterpreted, showing that they are more revealing with respect to the mode of termination of the midchain radical produced by backbiting, than to bimolecular termination of secondary radicals.
Serial novel chiral polydiacetylenes (PDAs) are efficiently prepared at room temperature by the controllable electrophoretic deposition of diacetylenes with tunable structure as designed from easily available starting materials. The colorimetrically reversible properties of PDAs in the range between 25 and 85 °C are influenced by the different amino acid moiety in the PDAs as anticipated. The PDA containing aromatic ring is much better for the colorimetrically reversible properties, while irreversible thermochromism is displayed for the PDA with the structure of the longer methylene units in the main chain of amino acid moiety.
The synthesis of tetracene‐ and pentacene‐annulated norbornadienes, formed through the Diels–Alder reaction of a dehydroacene with cyclopentadiene is reported. Ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) leads to polymers that are investigated with respect to their physical, optical, and electronic properties by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), UV–vis spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry. The pentacene‐containing polymer P1 is successfully integrated into an organic field‐effect transistor (OFET); the tetracene‐containing polymer P2 is integrated into an organic light‐emitting diode (OLED).
Poly‐(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPA) hydrogel films doped with uniaxially aligned liquid crystalline (LC) nanosheets adsorbed with a dye are synthesized and its anomalous photothermal deformation is demonstrated. The alignment of the nanosheet LC at the cm‐scale is easily achieved by the application of an in‐plane or out‐of‐plane AC electric field during photo‐polymerization. A photoresponsive pattern is printable onto the gel with μm‐scale resolution by adsorption of the dye through a pattern‐holed silicone rubber. When the gel is irradiated with light, only the colored part is photothermally deformed. Interestingly, the photo‐irradiated gel shows temporal expansion along one direction followed by anisotropic shrinkage, which is an anomalous behavior for a conventional PNIPA gel.
An alkyne‐functionalized ruthenium(II) bis‐terpyridine complex is directly copolymerized with phenylacetylene by alkyne polymerization. The polymer is characterized by size‐exclusion chromatography (SEC), 1H NMR spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements, and thermal analysis. The photophysical properties of the polymer are studied by UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. In addition, spectro‐electrochemical measurements are carried out. Time‐resolved luminescence lifetime decay curves show an enhanced lifetime of the metal complex attached to the conjugated polymer backbone compared with the Ru(tpy)22+ model complex.
Using the third‐generation Grubbs catalyst, the living ring‐opening metathesis polymerization of ferrocene/cobalticenium copolymers is conducted with theoretical numbers of 25 monomer units for each block, and their redox and electrochemical properties allow using the Bard–Anson electrochemical method to determine the number of metallocenyl units in each block.
A novel and robust route for the synthesis of a new amphiphilic brush copolymer, poly(glycidyl methacrylate)‐graft‐polyethylene glycol (PGMA‐g‐PEG), with high grafting densities of 97%–98% through a “grafting onto” method via carbon dioxide chemistry is reported. PGMA‐g‐PEG can self‐assemble and form stable spherical core–shell micelles in aqueous solution. Besides, the obtained PGMA‐g‐PEG polymer contains hydroxyurethane structures as the junction sites between the PGMA backbone and PEG side chain, which can be used for further modification.
Organic electrochromic materials change color rapidly under applied potential. A butterfly‐shaped compound, 5,5′,‐5″,‐5′″‐(thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene‐2,3,5,6‐tetrayl) tetrakis‐(2,3‐dihydrothieno[3,4‐b][1,4]dioxine) (t‐EDOT‐TT) is synthesized for the first time and polymerized at different potentials via electropolymerization technique. By applying different polymerization potentials, the optical and electrochromic properties of this newly synthesized polymer can be tuned. Owing to the dependence of functional group position in the polymer structure on the redox potential, this polymer can be utilized in very interesting organic optoelectronic applications.
The surface of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) film is treated with ethyleneamines (EDA) in a simple chemical vapor phase reaction. Successful introduction of amine functional groups on the cyano group of PAN backbone is verified by FT‐IR and NMR measurements. Further UV‐vis and photoluminescence analyses show a red shift of the emission peak after repeated EDA treatment, which might be attributed to the formation of imine conjugation from newly formed carbon‐nitrogen bonds on the PAN backbone. Further confocal laser scanning microscopy reveals that selective patterning of EDA on PAN films is possible via local polydimethylsiloxane masking. The results indicate that both chemical and optical patterning on PAN film can be realized via a single reaction and show the potential of this novel methodology in selective patterning.
A novel method, epoxidation/reduction of vegetable oils, is developed to prepare bio‐based polyols for the manufacture of polyurethanes (PUs). These polyols are synthesized from castor oil (CO), epoxidized soybean oil, and epoxidized linseed oil and their molecular structures are characterized. They are used to prepare a variety of PUs, and their thermomechanical properties are compared to those of PU made with petroleum‐based polyol (P‐450). It is shown that PUs made with polyols from soybean and linseed oil exhibit higher glass transition temperatures, tensile strength, and Young's modulus and PU made with polyol from CO exhibits higher elongation at break and toughness than PU made with P‐450. However, PU made with P‐450 displays better thermal resistance because of tri‐ester structure and terminal functional groups. The method provides a versatile way to prepare bio‐polyols from vegetable oils, and it is expected to partially or completely replace petroleum‐based polyols in PUs manufacture.
The authors study adjustable bandgap properties of the novel triple chalcogenophene‐based polymer poly‐(3‐hexyl‐2(3‐(4‐hexylthiophene‐2‐yl)‐4,5‐butylselenophene‐1‐yl)‐5‐(4,5‐butyltellurophene‐1‐yl)thiophene) through a combination of morphological, spectroscopic, and computational techniques. The bandgap can be tuned after polymerization by means of mild temperature annealing, which will allow for a partnership with a broader range of donor/acceptor molecules, a property that makes it potentially suitable for organic photovoltaic implementation. The bandgap is modified by selection of the annealing temperatures, and the process is arguably related to the aggregation of tellurophene units, as similar effects are observed in polytellurophenes. Moreover, adequate chemistry engineering ensures easy solution processability and attainment of homogeneous films, which is also essential for applications.
Pentafluorophenyl end‐capped poly(ethylene glycol) (PF‐PEG‐PF) aqueous solution shows a lower critical solution temperature (LCST), which is sensitive to the type of gases dissolved in the solution. LCST increases from 24.5 to 26 °C when dissolved carbon dioxide is replaced by oxygen. The transparent‐to‐turbid transition is reversibly observed when the dissolved carbon dioxide in the PF‐PEG‐PF aqueous solution is exchanged with oxygen, and vice versa, at 24.5 °C. 19F NMR and 1H NMR spectra of the PF‐PEG‐PF in D2O suggest that 1) dehydration of PEG is the main reason of developing LCST of the PF‐PEG‐PF aqueous solution, 2) minute differences in the intermolecular interactions, as demonstrated by changes in the chemical shift of the PF‐PEG‐PF peaks, induce such a difference in LCST. This paper provides a new insight in designing a stimuli‐responsive polymer in that fine tuning of a phase transition can be controlled by the type of dissolved gas.
A Mitsunobu reaction of trifluoroacetamide (TFA amide) and alcohols is used in a post‐polymerization modification process. The reaction is conducted on polystyrene (PSt) bearing 20 mol% TFA amide groups with 4‐methyl benzyl alcohol in the presence of a N,N,N′,N′‐tetramethylazodicarboxamide and tributylphosphine as mediators. The Mitsunobu reaction on polymer proceeds efficiently, as confirmed by the obvious precipitation generation during the reaction and the conversion of TFA amide moiety reached 88.6% confirmed by 19F NMR measurement, yielding PSt bearing tertiary TFA amide moieties. The obtained polymers featuring tertiary TFA amide moieties are deprotected in the presence of tetrabutylammonium hydroxide as a base to afford corresponding polymers featuring functionalized polyamine scaffolds with 92.5% conversion. In addition, the precise structural assignment is proven by synthesis and analysis of the model monomeric compounds and the respective model polymers.
Emission of conjugated polymers is known to undergo bathochromic shift from solution to film formation due to π–π stacking in the solid state. In this report, a series of pearl‐necklace‐like hybrid polymers is designed via the hydrosilylation condensation between bifunctional polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes ( B‐POSS ) and oligofluorene segments. Optoelectronic analyses unequivocally show that the presence of these interconnecting B‐POSS can effectively reduce red‐shift in photoluminescence and electroluminescence during film formation. These hybrid poly(oligofluorenes) display stable blue emission with high color purity. Thermal analyses also indicate that they are vitrified polymers with high glass transition temperature (up to 125 °C). We believe that this strategy can be extended to other conjugated systems to control color purity in electroactive materials and holds promise as new emissive materials for various applications.
Water dispersible latex particles with randomly mixed shells or chain segregated surface are synthesized from one‐pot reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer heterogeneous polymerization of benzyl methacrylate (BzMA) using a mixture of poly(glycerol monomethacrylate) (PGMA) and poly(2,3‐bis(succinyloxy)propyl methacrylate) (PBSPMA) macromolecular chain transfer agents. In methanol, the two in situ synthesized PGMA‐b‐PBzMA and PBSPMA‐b‐PBzMA diblock copolymers coaggregate into spherical micelles, which contain PBzMA core and discrete PGMA and PBSPMA nanodomains on the shell. In contrast, in water–methanol mixture (V/V = 9/1), latex particles with homogeneous distribution of PGMA and PBSPMA polymer chains on the shell are obtained. The reasons leading to formation of latex particles with homogenous or chain‐segregated surface are discussed, and polymerization kinetics and physical state of PBSPMA in methanol and water–methanol mixtures are ascribed. These polymeric micelles with patterned functional group on the surface are potentially important for application in supracolloidal hierarchical assemblies and catalysis.
Diselenide‐containing polymers are facilely synthesized from polymers prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Benefiting from the ATRP technology, this protocol provides a flexible route for controlling the polymer structure, which allows for a great variety of architectures of selenium‐containing polymer materials for applications in various fields. The oxidative and reductive responsive behavior of the obtained diselenide‐containing polymers is also investigated.
A triple‐sensitive polymer of poly(ethylene glycol)‐iminoboronate nitrobenzyl ethanediol chelate (PEG‐INEC) is efficiently fabricated via the convenient aqueous iminoboronate multi‐component reaction (MCR) of methoxypolyethylene glycol amine (mPEG‐NH2), 2‐formylphenylboronic acid (FPBA), and bis(2‐nitrophenyl) ethanediol (BNPE, a photo‐cleavable nitrobenzyl alcohol derivate). The aqueous MCR synthetic procedure is followed using 1H NMR and turbidity analysis. It is shown that polymer nano‐aggregates of PEG‐INEC in aqueous solution can be dissociated through the stimuli responsive reactions of the hydrophobic iminoboronate nitrobenzyl ethanediol chelates (INECs) when exposed to UV light, acid, and H2O2, respectively. Furthermore, upon the stimulation of combined triggers, the dissociation of polymer nano‐aggregates can be accelerated to different extents, resulting in the synergistic release of encapsulated hydrophobic molecules in water. The proposed facile and general method is quite desirable and of great importance in practical applications like drug and gene delivery.
Cationic polyelectrolytes showing an upper critical solution temperature (UCST) are synthesized by reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization in water at a temperature well above the UCST. The polymerization is well controlled by the RAFT process, with excellent pseudo‐first‐order kinetics. The cloud point is highly dependent on the polyelectrolyte concentration, molecular weight, and presence of added electrolyte. Alkylation of a neutral polymer is also conducted to obtain polyelectrolytes with different hydrophobic groups, which are shown to increase the cloud point.
We present a method to produce anti‐fouling reverse osmosis (RO) membranes that maintains the process and scalability of current RO membrane manufacturing. Utilizing perfluorophenyl azide (PFPA) photochemistry, commercial reverse osmosis membranes were dipped into an aqueous solution containing PFPA‐terminated poly(ethyleneglycol) species and then exposed to ultraviolet light under ambient conditions, a process that can easily be adapted to a roll‐to‐roll process. Successful covalent modification of commercial reverse osmosis membranes was confirmed with attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy and contact angle measurements. By employing X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, it was determined that PFPAs undergo UV‐generated nitrene addition and bind to the membrane through an aziridine linkage. After modification with the PFPA‐PEG derivatives, the reverse osmosis membranes exhibit high fouling‐resistance.
