Synthesis and functionalization of dendron‐polymer conjugate based hydrogels via sequential thiol‐ene “click” reactions

Fabrication and functionalization of hydrogels from well‐defined dendron‐polymer‐dendron conjugates is accomplished using sequential radical thiol‐ene “click” reactions. The dendron‐polymer conjugates were synthesized using an azide‐alkyne “click” reaction of alkene‐containing polyester dendrons bearing an alkyne group at their focal point with linear poly(ethylene glycol)‐bisazides. Thiol‐ene “click” reaction was used for crosslinking these alkene functionalized dendron‐polymer conjugates using a tetrathiol‐based crosslinker to provide clear and transparent hydrogels. Hydrogels with residual alkene groups at crosslinking sites were obtained by tuning the alkene‐thiol stoichiometry. The residual alkene groups allow efficient postfunctionalization of these hydrogel matrices with thiol‐containing molecules via a subsequent radical thiol‐ene reaction. The photochemical nature of radical thiol‐ene reaction was exploited to fabricate micropatterned hydrogels. Tunability of functionalization of these hydrogels, by varying dendron generation and polymer chain length was demonstrated by conjugation of a thiol‐containing fluorescent dye. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 926–934     

L‐arabinitol‐based functional polyurethanes

Three new polymerizable diols, based on mono‐, di‐, and tri‐O‐allyl‐L ‐arabinitol derivatives, were prepared from L ‐arabinitol as versatile materials for the preparation of tailor‐made polyurethanes with varied degrees of functionalization. Their allyl functional groups can take part in thiol‐ene reactions, to obtain greatly diverse materials. This “click” reaction with 2‐mercaptoethanol was firstly studied on the highly hindered sugar precursor 2,3,4‐tri‐O‐allyl‐1,5‐di‐O‐trityl‐L ‐arabinitol, to apply it later to macromolecules. A polyurethane with multiple pendant allyl groups was synthesized by polyaddition reaction of 2,3,4‐tri‐O‐allyl‐L ‐arabinitol with 1,6‐hexamethylene diisocyanate, and then functionalized by thiol‐ene reaction. The coupling reaction took place in every allyl group, as confirmed by standard techniques. The thermal stability of the novel polyurethanes was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). This strategy provides a simple and versatile platform for the design of new materials whose functionality can be easily modified. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Thiol‐epoxy “click” chemistry: Application in preparation and postpolymerization modification of polymers

Base‐catalyzed reaction between a thiol and an epoxide group is a simple fusion process that leads to the formation of a β‐hydroxythio‐ether linkage. This reaction is efficient, regio‐selective, and fast. In addition, it produces a reactive hydroxyl group upon completion. Therefore, it is of considerable potential in synthesis of reactive and functional soft materials. Here, we discuss the fundamental aspects of this process, the so‐called thiol‐epoxy “click” reaction, and its utility in the preparation and post‐polymerization functionalization of polymers and crosslinked networks. Furthermore, its application in surface modification of solid substrates is also considered. Finally, utility of multifunctional materials created using the thiol‐epoxy reaction is discussed in the biomedical arena. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 3057–3070     

Orthogonal multifunctionalization of aliphatic polycarbonate via sequential Michael addition and radical‐thiol‐ene click reactions

Aliphatic polycarbonate (PC) copolymer is synthesized by ring opening copolymerization of acrylate‐ and allyl‐functional cyclic carbonate monomers. The post‐polymerization functionalization of the resulting copolymer is performed quantitatively using a variety of thiol compounds via sequential Michael addition and photo‐induced radical thiol‐ene click reactions within relatively short reaction time at ambient temperature. This metal‐free click chemistry methodology affords the synthesis of biocompatible PC copolymer with multifunctional groups. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 1581–1587     

Synthesis and postfunctionalization of well‐defined star polymers via “double” click chemistry

In this article, the synthesis and the functionalization of well‐defined, narrow polydispersity (polydispersity index < 1.2) star polymers via reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer polymerization is detailed. In this arm first approach, the initial synthesis of a poly(pentafluorophenyl acrylate) polymer, and subsequent, cross‐linking using bis‐acrylamide to prepare star polymers, has been achieved by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. These star polymers were functionalized using a variety of amino functional groups via nucleophilic substitution of pentafluorophenyl activated ester to yield star polymers with predesigned chemical functionality. This approach has allowed the synthesis of star glycopolymer using a very simple approach. Finally, the core of the stars was modified via thiol‐ene click chemistry reaction using fluorescein‐o‐acrylate and DyLigh 633 Maleimide. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Synthesis of allyl end‐block functionalized poly(ε‐caprolactone)s and their facile post‐functionalization via thiol–ene reaction

A simple and facile strategy for the functionalization of commercial poly(ε‐caprolactone) diols (PCLs) with pendant functionalities at the polymer chain termini is described. Well‐defined allyl‐functionalized PCLs with varying numbers of allyl end‐block side‐groups were synthesized by cationic ring‐opening polymerization of allyl glycidyl ether using PCL diols as macroinitiators. Further functionalization of the allyl‐functionalized PCLs was realized via the UV‐initiated radical addition of a furan‐functionalized thiol to the pendant allyl functional groups, showing the suitability for post‐modification of the PCL materials. Changes in polymer structure as a result of varying the number of pendant functional units at the PCL chain termini were demonstrated. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 928–939     

Maleimidophenyl isocyanates as postpolymerization modification agents and their applications in the synthesis of block copolymers

The maleimide structure is highly reactive, exemplified by thiol–ene click reactions with thiols and Diels–Alder reactions with furans. Although postpolymerization modifications and macromolecular conjugations involving maleimide units have been widely studied, mostly due to their selectivity and high reactivity, little has been reported on the one‐pot postpolymerization introduction of maleimides in polymer chains. Herein, we report p‐maleimidophenyl isocyanate and its derivatives as modification agents to introduce maleimide moieties by reaction with hydroxy groups into polymer chains. The high reactivity of the resulting modification agents and of the corresponding maleimide structures once inserted in the polymer chains was examined by studying their reaction kinetics. Furthermore, these modification agents were successfully applied to the synthesis of macromonomers for graft polymerization and various block copolymers, with, for example, AB‐type, star‐shaped, and H‐shaped architectures. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 2396–2406     

Click‐chemistry of polymersomes on nanoporous polymeric surfaces

A facile click chemistry method of immobilizing surface‐functionalized polymer vesicles on casted polymeric PAN substrates is described. Microporous PAN membranes were subjected to hydrochloric acid hydrolysis to obtain surface carboxylates. The carboxylic groups were activated with EDC/NHS‐solution and were then reacted with propargylamine to introduce alkyne groups for CuAAC reactions. The alkyne functionality of the modified membrane surface was verified by reaction with an azide functional click dye both before and after the immobilization of azide‐functionalized ABA vesicles. The efficient postfunctionalization of the membrane with alkyne allowed quantitative coverage of the membrane surface with a polymersome monolayer, as confirmed by immobilization of polymerzomes loaded with a fluorescent dye. Polymersome monolayers immobilized on alkyne functionalized PAN‐membranes were characterized by cryo‐SEM and monolayers were confirmed by atom force microscopy. These methods opens up new avenues for preparing membrane based filtration and sensor technologies. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 2032–2039     

Covalent functionalization of solid cellulose by divergent synthesis of chemically active dendrons

Covalent surface modification of solid cellulose with well‐defined and chemically reactive dendrons is introduced as a platform for cellulose grafting with functional materials. Surface functionalization with a first generation dendron is achieved by esterification employing bifunctional molecules based on 2,2‐bis(hydroxymethyl) propionic acid (bis‐MPA) under mild conditions and short reaction times. The activated cellulose surface displays hydrophobic properties and contains two reactive alkene end‐groups per graft, which are used for covalent binding to active agents, as demonstrated by selective functionalization of the modified cellulose with fluorescent dye via photopatterning. The number of active end‐groups on the surface of cellulose is multiplied by divergent solid‐state synthesis of second and third generation dendrons having four and eight reactive sites per dendron, respectively. The dendrons are assembled in only few hours by a sequence of thiol‐ene/esterification reactions. The ability to accurately control the number of binding sites on the surface of cellulose allows fine tuning of the surface properties, as shown by the attachment of hydrophobic small molecules to the dendronized cellulose. The first, second and third generation dendrons allow preparing surfaces with increasing hydrophobicities; second and third generation dendrons functionalized with small perfluoroalkyl molecule display superhydrophobic properties. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018 , 56, 2103–2114     

New photo‐induced thiol‐ene crosslinked films based on linear methacrylate copolymer polythiols

Thiol‐ene radical addition by photolysis is a highly efficient click reaction of sufhydryl groups with reactive enes that has been extensively explored as a promising means to construct multifunctional materials. Here, photo‐induced thiol‐ene crosslinked films composed of linear methacrylate copolymer polythiols (MCPsh) are reported. Well‐defined MCPsh copolymers were prepared by thiol‐responsive cleavage of pendant disulfide linkages positioned in the corresponding methacrylate copolymers with narrow molecular weight distribution which were synthesized by a controlled radical polymerization method. With a commercially available multifunctional acrylate as a model ene, photo‐induced thiol‐ene radical polyaddition of these polythiols is competitive to free‐radical homopolymerization of acrylates, yielding crosslinked films exhibiting rapid cure, uniform network, and enhanced mechanical properties; these properties are required for high performance coating materials. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 2860–2868.     

A versatile synthetic path to thiol containing polysiloxanes

A synthetic strategy to polydimethylsiloxanes and polymethylsiloxanes containing thiol functions as end‐ or side‐groups, respectively, is presented. Such polymers are important starting materials for elastomeric networks and postpolymerization modifications. The synthesis starts either with vinyl end‐functionalized polydimethylsiloxanes or with polymethylvinylsiloxanes. The vinyl groups are reacted either with thioacetic acid or with a thioacetic acid/butanethiol mixture via a UV‐initiated thiol‐ene reaction to form the respective thioester quantitatively within few minutes. The thioesters are subsequently deprotected to the respective thiols by reduction with LiAlH₄. The resulting thiol containing polysiloxanes can be used for the formation of networks or another functionalization. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 2940–2948     

Postfunctionalization of polyoxanorbornene via sequential Michael addition and radical thiol‐ene click reactions

We demonstrated the successful postfunctionalization of poly(oxanorbornene imide) (PONB) with two types of double bonds using sequential orthogonal reactions, nucleophilic thiol‐ene coupling via Michael addition and radical thiol‐ene click reactions. First, the synthesis of PONB with side chain acrylate groups is carried out via ring‐opening metathesis polymerization and nitroxide radical coupling reaction, respectively. Subsequently, the resulting polymer having two different orthogonal functionalities, main chain vinyl and side chain acrylate, is selectively modified via two sequential thiol‐ene click reactions, nucleophilic thiol‐ene coupling via Michael addition and photoinduced radical thiol‐ene. The orthogonal reactivity of two diverse double bonds, vinyl and acrylate functionalities, for the abovementioned consecutive thiol‐ene click reactions was first demonstrated on the model compound. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Photo‐initiated thiol–ene “click” hydrogels from RAFT‐synthesized poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide)

Despite the efficiency and robustness of the widely used copper‐catalyzed 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition reaction, the use of copper as a catalyst is often not attractive, particularly for materials intended for biological systems. The use of photo‐initiated thiol‐ene as an alternative “click” reaction to synthesize “model networks” is investigated here. Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) precursors were synthesized by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and were designed to have trithiocarbonate moieties as end groups. This structure design provides opportunity for subsequent end‐group modifications in preparation for thiol‐ene “click.” Two reaction routes have been proposed and studied to yield thiol and ene moieties. The advantages and disadvantages of each reaction path were investigated to propose a simple but efficient route to prepare copper‐free “click” hydrogels. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 4626–4636     

Antibacterial poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels from combined epoxy‐amine and thiol‐ene click reaction

Antibacterial hydrogels containing quaternary ammonium (QA) groups were prepared via a facile thiol‐ene “click” reaction using multifunctional poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). The multifunctional PEG polymers were prepared by an epoxy‐amine ring opening reaction. The chemical and physical properties of the hydrogels could be tuned with different crosslinking structures and crosslinking densities. The antibacterial hydrogel structures prepared from PEG Pendant QA were less well‐defined than those from PEG Chain‐End QA. Furthermore, functionalization of the PEG‐type hydrogels with QA groups produced strong antibacterial abilities against Staphylococcus aureus, and therefore has the potential to be used as an anti‐infective material for biomedical devices. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 656–667     

The power of thiol‐ene chemistry

As a tribute to Professor Charlie Hoyle, we take the opportunity to review the impact of thiol‐ene chemistry on polymer and materials science over the past 5 years. During this time, a renaissance in thiol‐ene chemistry has occurred with recent progress demonstrating its unique advantages when compared with traditional coupling and functionalization strategies. Additionally, the robust nature of thiol‐ene chemistry allows for the preparation of well‐defined materials with few structural limitations and synthetic requirements. To illustrate these features, the utility of thiol‐ene reactions for network formation, polymer functionalization, dendrimer synthesis, and the decoration of three‐dimensional objects is discussed. Also, the development of the closely related thiol‐yne chemistry is described. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 743–750, 2010     

Efficient initiation of radical‐mediated thiol‐ene chemistry with photoactive silica particles

This work aims at the design of photoactive inorganic filler by covalently attaching tri(methoxy)silyl‐functionalized bis(acyl)phosphane oxides (TEMSI²‐BAPO) onto silica particles. The immobilization of the photoactive groups is evidenced by spectroscopic measurements and thermal gravimetric analysis. The modified particles are then incorporated into thiol–ene resins to study the efficiency of the Norrish type I photofragmentation reaction of the covalently bound TEMSI²‐BAPO derivatives. The photopolymerization kinetics of the thiol–ene system is monitored by FT‐IR spectroscopy and photo‐DSC upon prolonged exposure with UV‐light and compared with the results achieved with IRGACURE 819 (free BAPO). Rapid curing and high conversion yields are obtained evidencing the high efficiency of the photoactive particles. In addition, negative‐toned patterns are inscribed in thin thiol–ene films by photolithographic processes and characterized by microscopic techniques demonstrating the versatile applicability of the photoactive particles. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 894–902     

Single‐step synthesis of internally functionalizable hyperbranched polyethers

Radical catalyzed thiol‐ene reaction has become a useful alternative to the Hüisgen‐type azide‐yne click reaction as it helps expand the variability in reaction conditions as well as the range of clickable entities. In this study, the direct generation of a hyperbranched polyether (HBPE) having decyl units at the periphery and a pendant allyl group on every repeat unit of the polymer backbone is described; the allyl groups serve as a reactive handle for postpolymerization modifications and permits the generation of a variety of internally functionalized HBPEs. In this design, the AB₂ monomer carries two decylbenzyl ether units (B‐functionality), an aliphatic ? OH (A‐functionality) and a pendant allyl group within the spacer segment; polymerization of the monomer readily occurs at 150 °C via melt transetherification process by continuous removal of 1‐decanol under reduced pressure. The resulting HBPE has a hydrophobic periphery due to the presence of numerous decyl chains, while the allyl groups that remain unaffected during the melt polymerization provides an opportunity to install a variety of functional groups within the interior; thiol‐ene click reaction with two different thiols, namely 3‐mercaptopropionic acid and mercaptosuccinic acid, generated interesting amphiphilic structures. Preliminary field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) imaging studies reveal the formation of fairly uniform spherical aggregates in water with sizes ranging from 200 to 400 nm; this suggests that these amphiphilic HBPs is able to reconfigure to generate jellyfish‐like conformations that subsequently aggregate in an alkaline medium. The internal allyl functional groups were also used to generate intramolecularly core‐crosslinked HBPEs, by the use of dithiol crosslinkers; gel permeation chromatography traces provided clear evidence for reduction in the size after crosslinking. In summary, we have developed a simple route to prepare core‐clickable HBPEs and have demonstrated the quantitative reaction of the allyl groups present within the interior of the polymers; such HB polymeric systems that carry numerous functional groups within the core could have interesting applications in analyte sequestration and possibly sensing, especially from organic media. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 4125–4135     

Chemo‐ and stereoselective polymerization of 3‐methylenehepta‐1,6‐Diene and Its thiol‐ene modification

Here we report on the coordination polymerization of a vinyl‐functionalized butadiene monomer, 3‐methylenehepta‐1,6‐diene (MHD) with exclusive conjugated diene chemoselectivity, high 1,2‐regioselectivity and moderate isotacticity (1,2‐selectivity > 99%, mm triad = 93%). Random copolymers of MHD and other conjugated diene (isoprene or myrcene) are also synthesized. The pendent vinyl groups of MHD homo or copolymers could be quantitatively converted into various functional groups via thiol‐ene click reaction. The resulting functionalized polybutadiene‐based material display versatile thermal and surface properties. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 1031–1039