Synthesis of polypropylene graft copolymers by the combination of a polypropylene copolymer containing pendant vinylbenzene groups and atom transfer radical polymerization

This article discusses a facile and inexpensive reaction process for preparing polypropylene‐based graft copolymers containing an isotactic polypropylene (i‐PP) main chain and several functional polymer side chains. The chemistry involves an i‐PP polymer precursor containing several pendant vinylbenzene groups, which is prepared through the Ziegler–Natta copolymerization of propylene and 1,4‐divinylbenzene mediated by an isospecific MgCl₂‐supported TiCl₄ catalyst. The selective monoenchainment of 1,4‐divinylbenzene comonomers results in pendant vinylbenzene groups quantitatively transformed into benzyl halides by hydrochlorination. In the presence of CuCl/pentamethyldiethylenetriamine, the in situ formed, multifunctional, polymeric atom transfer radical polymerization initiators carry out graft‐from polymerization through controlled radical polymerization. Some i‐PP‐based graft copolymers, including poly(propylene‐g‐methyl methacrylate) and poly(propylene‐g‐styrene), have been prepared with controlled compositions. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 429–437, 2005     

Synthesis and characterization of polypropylene-based block copolymers possessing polar segments via controlled radical polymerization

A new method to prepare the polypropylene (PP) macroinitiator for controlled radical polymerization was described. Bromination of terminally-unsaturated PP was carried out by using N-bromosuccinimide and 2,2′-azobis(isobutyronitrile) to give a brominated PP (PP-Br), that has allylic bromide moieties at or near the chain ends. Thus, the obtained PP-Br was successfully used as a macroinitiator for radical polymerization of styrene, methyl methacrylate, and n-butyl acrylate using a copper catalyst system. From ¹H NMR analysis, it was confirmed that the chain extension polymerization was certainly initiated from allylic bromide moieties with high efficiency, leading to the PP-based block copolymers linking the polar segment. From differential scanning calorimetry, it was observed that peak melting temperature of block copolymers was higher than that of PP-Br and the obtained PP-PS block copolymers with different compositions of each segment demonstrated the unique morphological features due to the microphase separation between both segments. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 812–823, 2009     

Synthesis and characterization of sulfonated block copolymers by atom transfer radical polymerization

Well‐defined sulfonated polystyrene and block copolymers with n‐butyl acrylate (nBA) were synthesized by CuBr catalyzed living radical polymerization. Neopentyl p‐styrene sulfonate (NSS) was polymerized with ethyl‐2‐bromopropionate initiator and CuBr catalyst with N,N,N′,N′‐pentamethylethyleneamine to give poly(NSS) (PNSS) with a narrow molecular weight distribution (MWD < 1.12). PNSS was then acidified by thermolysis resulting in a polystyrene backbone with 100% sulfonic acid groups. Random copolymers of NSS and styrene with various composition ratios were also synthesized by copolymerization of NSS and styrene with different feed ratios (MWD < 1.11). Well defined block copolymers with nBA were synthesized by sequential polymerization of NSS from a poly(n‐butyl acrylate) (PnBA) precursor using CuBr catalyzed living radical polymerization (MWD < 1.29). © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 5991–5998, 2008     

Synthesis of PDMAEMA-PCL-PDMAEMA triblock copolymers

The synthesis of ABA triblock copolymers of the type PDMAEMA-PCL-PDMAEMA was achieved by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of DMAEMA using difunctional polycaprolactone (PCL) as macroinitiator. First, ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of ε-caprolactone (ε-CL) was carried out in the presence of 1,2-diaminoethane/tin (II) octanoate. Dihydroxy PCL thus obtained was end-functionalized in a quantitative manner using 2-bromoisobutyryl bromide. The resulting Br-PCL-Br was used as macroinitiator in the ATRP of DMAEMA leading to triblock copolymers with PCL as the central block and PDMAEMA sequences of different lengths. NMR and SEC analyses confirmed the formation of ABA triblocks.     

Amphiphilic diblock,triblock, and star block copolymers by living radical polymerization: Synthesis and aggregation behavior

Copper(I)‐mediated living radical polymerization was used to synthesize amphiphilic block copolymers of poly(n‐butyl methacrylate) [P(n‐BMA)] and poly[(2‐dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate] (PDMAEMA). Functionalized bromo P(n‐BMA) macroinitiators were prepared from monofunctional, difunctional, and trifunctional initiators: 2‐bromo‐2‐methylpropionic acid 4‐methoxyphenyl ester, 1,4‐(2′‐bromo‐2′‐methyl‐propionate)benzene, and 1,3,5‐(2′‐bromo‐2′‐methylpropionato)benzene. The living nature of the polymerizations involved was investigated in each case, leading to narrow‐polydispersity polymers for which the number‐average molecular weight increased fairly linearly with time with good first‐order kinetics in the monomer. These macroinitiators were subsequently used for the polymerization of (2‐dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate to obtain well‐defined [P(n‐BMA)_x‐b‐PDMAEMA_y]_z diblock (15,900; polydispersity index = 1.60), triblock (23,200; polydispersity index = 1.24), and star block copolymers (50,700; polydispersity index = 1.46). Amphiphilic block copolymers contained between 60 and 80 mol % hydrophilic PDMAEMA blocks to solubilize them in water. The polymers were quaternized with methyl iodide to render them even more hydrophilic. The aggregation behavior of these copolymers was investigated with fluorescence spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering. For blocks of similar comonomer compositions, the apparent critical aggregation concentration (cac = 3.22–7.13 × 10^?3 g L^?1) and the aggregate size (ca. 65 nm) were both dependent on the copolymer architecture. However, for the same copolymer structure, increasing the hydrophilic PDMAEMA block length had little effect on the cac but resulted in a change in the aggregate size. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 439–450, 2002; DOI 10.1002/pola.10122     

Inelastic neutron scattering from isotactic polypropylene

We used inelastic neutron scattering to probe the low‐energy excitations in semicrystalline isotactic polypropylenes with different degrees of crystallinity. The contributions from the amorphous and crystalline regions to the total scattering intensity were extracted under the assumption of a weighted linear contribution of the two regions in a simplified two‐phase system. The resulting intensity from the amorphous region showed a peak at 1.2 meV that was in good agreement with the previously determined boson peak characteristic of atactic polypropylene. The possibility of a contribution to the boson peak region by longitudinal acoustic mode modes that are characteristic of semicrystalline polymers and appear in the same low‐frequency region is discussed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 2852–2859, 2001     

Synthesis of diblock copolymers by combining stable free radical polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization

A stable nitroxyl radical functionalized with an initiating group for atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), 4‐(2‐bromo‐2‐methylpropionyloxy)‐2,2,6,6‐tetramethyl‐1‐piperidinyloxy (Br‐TEMPO), was synthesized by the reaction of 4‐hydroxyl‐2,2,6,6‐tetramethyl‐1‐piperidinyloxy with 2‐bromo‐2‐methylpropionyl bromide. Stable free radical polymerization of styrene was then carried out using a conventional thermal initiator, dibenzoyl peroxide, along with Br‐TEMPO. The obtained polystyrene had an active bromine atom for ATRP at the ω‐end of the chain and was used as the macroinitiator for ATRP of methyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate to prepare block copolymers. The molecular weights of the resulting block copolymers at different monomer conversions shifted to higher molecular weights and increased with monomer conversion. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2468–2475, 2006     

Synthesis of semifluorinated block copolymers by atom transfer radical polymerization

Two sets of styrene‐based semifluorinated block copolymers, one with a perfluoroether pendant group and another with a perfluoroalkyl group, were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization. Microphase separation of the block copolymers was established by small‐angle X‐ray scattering and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). DSC measurements also showed that the perfluoroether‐based polymer had a low glass‐transition temperature (?44 °C). Contact‐angle measurements indicated that the semifluorinated block copolymers had low surface energies (ca. 13 mJ/m²). These materials hold promise as low‐surface‐energy additives or surfactants for supercritical CO₂ applications. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 853–861, 2004     

Synthesis of azide end‐functionalized isotactic polypropylene building block and renewed modular synthesis of diblock copolymers of isotactic polypropylene and poly(ε‐caprolactone)

This article details a synthesis of azide end‐functionalized isotactic polypropylene (i‐PP), a unique polymeric building block that can engage in Huisgen's 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition of azide and alkyne (click reaction) to construct well‐defined i‐PP‐based polymer architecture. Controlled, consecutive chain transfer reaction to 1,2‐bis(4‐vinylphenyl)ethane and hydrogen in metallocene‐mediated propylene polymerization catalyzed by rac‐Me₂Si(2‐Me‐4‐Ph‐Ind)₂ZrCl₂/MAO resulted in styryl‐terminated i‐PP (i‐PP‐t‐St) of controlled molecular weight. Following a regioselective hydrochlorination reaction, the terminal styryl groups were quantatively transformed to 1‐chloroethylbenzene groups, which was further reacted with NaN₃ to give i‐PP terminated with an azide group (i‐PP‐t‐N₃). Structural monitoring of the polymers through the whole transformation process using ¹H NMR and FTIR as well as GPC and DSC reveals a clean and clear formation of i‐PP‐t‐N₃ (M_n in between 10,000 and 40,000 g/mol). This clickable i‐PP building block was applied to a renewed, modular synthesis of amphiphilic i‐PP‐b‐PCL (poly(ε‐caprolactone)) diblock copolymers. Composition‐diversified, structure‐well defined diblock copolymers were obtained in high yields, confirming both the high end group selectivity as well as high reactivity of azide the clickable moiety in the i‐PP building block and the effectiveness of azide‐alkyne click reaction in constructing new i‐PP architecture. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Preparation of polyethylene block copolymers by a combination of postmetallocene catalysis of ethylene polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization

The synthesis of block copolymers consisting of a polyethylene segment and either a poly(meth)acrylate or polystyrene segment was accomplished through the combination of postmetallocene-mediated ethylene polymerization and subsequent atom transfer radical polymerization. A vinyl-terminated polyethylene (number-average molecular weight = 1800, weight-average molecular weight/number-average molecular weight =1.70) was synthesized by the polymerization of ethylene with a phenoxyimine zirconium complex as a catalyst activated with methylalumoxane (MAO). This polyethylene was efficiently converted into an atom transfer radical polymerization macroinitiator by the addition of α-bromoisobutyric acid to the vinyl chain end, and the polyethylene macroinitiator was used for the atom transfer radical polymerization of n-butyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, or styrene; this resulted in defined polyethylene-b-poly(n-butyl acrylate), polyethylene-b-poly(methyl methacrylate), and polyethylene-b-polystyrene block copolymers. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 496–504, 2004     

Synthesis of poly(vinylidene fluoride)‐b‐poly(styrene sulfonate) block copolymers by controlled radical polymerizations

Block copolymers based on poly(vinylidene fluoride), PVDF, and a series of poly(aromatic sulfonate) sequences were synthesized from controlled radical polymerizations (CRPs). According to the aromatic monomers, appropriate techniques of CRP were chosen: either iodine transfer polymerization (ITP) or atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) from PVDF‐I macromolecular chain transfer agents (CTAs) or PVDF‐CCl₃ macroinitiator, respectively. These precursors were produced either by ITP of VDF with C₆F₁₃I or by radical telomerization of VDF with chloroform, respectively. Poly(vinylidene fluoride)‐b‐poly(sodium styrene sulfonate), PVDF‐b‐PSSS, block copolymers were produced from both techniques via a direct polymerization of sodium styrene sulfonate (SSS) monomer or an indirect way with the use of styrene sulfonate ethyl ester (SSE) as a protected monomer. Although the reaction led to block copolymers, the kinetics of ITP of SSS showed that PVDF‐I macromolecular CTAs were not totally efficient because a limitation of the CTA consumption (56%) was observed. This was probably explained by both the low activity of the CTA (that contained inefficient PVDF‐CF₂CH₂? I) and a fast propagation rate of the monomer. That behavior was also noted in the ITP of SSE. On the other hand, ATRP of SSS initiated by PVDF‐CCl₃ was more controlled up to 50% of conversion leading to PVDF‐b‐PSSS block copolymer with an average number molar mass of 6000 g·mol^?1. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

End‐functionalization of isotactic polypropylene via consecutive chain transfer reaction to norbornadiene and hydrogen

Structurally well‐defined end functionalized isotactic polypropylene (iPP) is prepared by conducting a selective chain transfer reaction during the isospecific polymerization of propylene in the presence of norbornadiene (NBD) and hydrogen using rac‐Me₂Si(2‐Me‐4‐Ph‐Ind)₂ ZrCl₂/MAO as the catalyst. The production of NBD‐capped iPP involves a unique consecutive chain transfer reaction, first to NBD and then to hydrogen, for situating the incorporated NBD at the iPP chain end. The NBD end group of NBD‐capped iPP can be converted into other reactive functional group through functional group transformation reactions. The resulting functional group end‐capped iPP can be used for the construction of stereoregular block copolymers (e.g., iPP‐b‐PMMA and iPP‐b‐PS) through postpolymeriztion reactions. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

新型线状-树枝状两亲嵌段共聚物的合成

本文设计合成了一系列由不同链长的聚丙烯酸(PAA)为亲水嵌段和不同代数聚苄醚树枝体(Dendr.PBE)为疏水嵌段的杂化共聚物(PAA-Dendr.PBE)。     

New rod-coil block copolymers consisting of terfluorene segments and electron transporting units as the flexible blocks

A series of new rod-coil block copolymers having a well-defined terfluorene unit as the rigid segment with three different electron transporting moieties as the flexible part, such as side chain oxadiazole (TFPOXD), side chain quinoline (TFPQN) and a molecule containing two oxadiazole rings in the side chain (TFPDOXD), were synthesized using the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) technique. All the synthesized copolymers were extensively examined with respect to their optical properties as pristine films, upon thermal annealing (200 °C for 30 min in air) and photo-oxidation treatment in air. Thermal annealing of the block copolymers resulted in stable blue light emission from TFPOXD and TFPDOXD while TFPQN showed the appearance of the undesired 520 nm emission band. In addition, TFPOXD does not exhibit the low-energy emission band at 520 nm after photo-oxidation under prolonged diffuse UV radiation at ambient atmosphere, despite the fluorenone formation on the terfluorene segment, in contrast to all the other copolymers.     

Synthesis of liquid crystalline–amorphous block copolymers by the combination of atom transfer and photoinduced radical polymerization mechanisms

The synthesis of ABA‐type block copolymers, involving liquid‐crystalline 6‐(4‐cyanobiphenyl‐4′‐oxy)hexyl acrylate (LC6) and styrene (St) monomer with copper‐based atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and photoinduced radical polymerization (PIRP), was studied. First, photoactive α‐methylol benzoin methyl ether was esterified with 2‐bromopropionyl bromide, and it was subsequently used for ATRP of LC6 in diphenylether in conjunction with CuBr/N,N,N′,N″,N″‐pentamethyldiethylenetriamine as a catalyst. The obtained photoactive functional liquid‐crystalline polymer, poly[6‐(4‐cyanobiphenyl‐4′‐oxy)hexyl acrylate] (PLC6), was used as an initiator in PIRP of St. Similarly, photoactive polystyrenes were also synthesized and employed for the block copolymerization of LC6 in the second stage. The spectral, thermal, and optical measurements confirmed a full combination of ATRP and PIRP, which resulted in the formation of ABA‐type block copolymers with very narrow polydispersities. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1892–1903, 2003     

Preparation of amphiphilic ternary block copolymers with PEO as the middle block and the effect of PEO position on the glass transition temperature (Tg) of copolymers

The copolymer of polystyrene‐block‐poly(ethylene oxide)‐block‐poly (tert‐butyl acrylate) (PS‐b‐PEO‐b‐PtBA) was prepared, the synthesis process involved ring‐opening polymerization (ROP), nitroxide‐mediated polymerization (NMP), and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), and 4‐hydroxyl‐2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidinyl‐1‐oxy (HTEMPO) was used as parent compound. The PEO precursors with α‐hydroxyl‐ω‐2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidinyl‐1‐oxy end groups(TEMPO‐PEO‐OH) were first obtained by ROP of EO using HTEMPO and diphenylmethylpotassium (DPMK) as the coinitiator. The TEMPO at one end of PEO chain mediated the polymerization of St using benzoyl peroxide as initiator. The resultant PS‐b‐PEO‐OH reacted further with 2‐bromoisobutyryl bromide and then initiated the polymerization of tBA in the presence of CuBr and PMDETA by ATRP. The ternary block copolymers PS‐b‐PEO‐b‐PtBA and intermediates were characterized by gel permeation chromatography, Fourier transform infrared, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in detail. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements confirmed that the PS‐b‐PEO‐b‐PtBA with PEO as middle block can weaken the interaction between PS and PtBA blocks, the glass transition temperature (T_g) for two blocks were approximate to their corresponding homopolymers comparing with the PEO‐b‐PS‐b‐PtBA with PEO as the first block. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 2624–2631, 2008     

Synthesis of AB diblock copolymers by atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and living polymerization of alpha-amino acid-N-carboxyanhydrides

The synthesis of poly(methyl acrylate)-block-poly(gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate) (PMA-b-PBLG) diblock copolymers, using atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl acrylate and living polymerization of gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate-N-carboxyanhydride (Glu-NCA) is described. Amido-amidate nickelacycle end groups were incorporated onto amino-terminated poly(methyl acrylates), and the resulting complexes were successfully used as macroinitiators for the growth of polypeptide segments. This method allows the controlled preparation of polypeptide-block-poly(methyl acrylate) diblock architectures with control over polypeptide chain length and without the formation of homopolypeptide contaminants.     

Synthesis and characterization of H-type amphiphilic liquid crystalline block copolymers by ATRP

H-type amphiphilic liquid crystalline block copolymers containing azobenzene were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization （ATRP）. Macroinitiators prepared by the esterification between poly（ethylene oxide） （PEG） and 2,2-dichloroacetyl chloride were utilized to initiate the polymerization of 6-[4-（4-ethoxyphenylazo）phenoxy]hexyl rnethacrylate （M6C）. The resulting macroinitiators and block copolymers were characterized by ^1H NMR, gel permeation chromatography （GPC）. Polarizing optical microscopy （POM） and differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） preliminarily revealed the liquid crystalline property of these block copolymers. This series of liquid crystalline block copolymers are promising in some areas, such as optical data storage, optical switch, and molecular devices.