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).
Under the validity of the degenerative transfer mechanism, the activation/deactivation process in reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization can be formally quantified by transfer coefficients, depending on the chemical structure of the participating radicals and dormant species. In the present work, the different literature methods to experimentally determine these RAFT transfer coefficients are reviewed and theoretically re‐evaluated. The accuracy of each method is mapped for a broad range of reaction conditions and RAFT transfer reactivities. General guidelines on when which method should be applied are formulated.
The structural determination and manipulation of bottle‐brush polymers, a class of polymers with serially grafted side‐chains, is challenging due to the interplay of side‐chain and backbone interactions over various length scales. The present work performs a detailed analysis, using molecular dynamics simulation techniques, to unravel these interactions by probing the distinct rod to a flexible real‐chain with self‐avoiding walk (SAW) type crossover in the backbone static structure factor. This analysis elucidates the deviation from flexible chain behavior, while also providing a quantitative measure of persistence length, . Significantly, the results identify a trend in which is consistent with the debated theoretical prediction of , where Ns is the number of monomers in each side‐chain of the bottle‐brush polymer.
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.
In this work, activated ester chemistry is employed to synthesize biocompatible and readily functionalizable polymersomes. Via aminolysis of pentafluorophenyl methacrylate‐based precursor polymers, an N‐(2‐hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide (HPMA)‐analog hydrophilic block is obtained. The precursor polymers can be versatile functionalized by simple addition of suitable primary amines during aminolysis as demonstrated using a fluorescent dye. Vesicle formation is proven by cryoTEM and light scattering. High encapsulation efficiencies for hydrophilic cargo like siRNA are achieved using dual centrifugation and safe encapsulation is demonstrated by gel electrophoresis. In vitro studies reveal low cytotoxicity and no protein adsorption‐induced aggregation in human blood serum occurs, making the vesicles interesting candidates as nanosized drug carriers.
Thermophysical and mechanical properties of two conjugated polymers, poly(p‐phenylene vinylene) (PPV) and polyacetylene (PA), are predicted using molecular dynamics simulations and compared with results obtained from differential scanning calorimetry, nanoindentation, and dynamic mechanical analysis experiments. Glass transition temperature (Tg) is calculated from the changes in the slopes of the specific volume versus temperature and cohesive energy density versus temperature plots, obtained from constant pressure and constant temperature simulations (NPT ensemble). The effects of temperature on the torsion angle distributions and characteristic ratio are analyzed. PPV is found to have a Tg of 416 ± 8 K. PA does not exhibit a glass transition in the temperature range of 120 to 500 K. Using the static deformation method, the values of Young's modulus are calculated to be 1.81 ± 0.34 GPa for PA and 9.20 ± 0.57 GPa for PPV at 298 K. These values are in good agreement with the experimental measurements, validating the suitability of these techniques in the prediction of the polymer properties.
In this work, the structure of a strictly 2D dense polymer film for some model copolymer systems: diblock, triblock, and random copolymers is studied. An idealized model of these macromolecular systems is developed where positions of polymer beads are restricted to vertices of a simple cubic lattice and chains are under good solvent conditions (the excluded volume is the only interaction between beads of the chain and solvent molecules). The properties of the system are determined by means of Monte Carlo simulations with a sampling algorithm based on chain's local cooperative changes of conformation. Scaling of the chain size is studied and the influence of the polymer concentration on the chain's size and shape is discussed. The differences and similarities in the behavior of the percolation thresholds of one component in chains with different bead sequences are also shown and discussed. The percolation threshold is found to be weakly dependent on the chain length and more sensitive to the total polymer concentration.
A modeling pathway and software tool for linking entangled linear polymer molecular properties to linear viscoelasticity and melt index (MI) values is presented. A reptation model links molecular properties to the flow curve, and then, an ANSYS Polyflow model calculates MI values based on the flow curve predicted. The method is thoroughly tested and validated for uni‐ and bimodal, low‐ and high‐density polyethylene grades. An overall accuracy level in the range of 90% on average is exhibited, considering both model prediction steps: (i) molecular weight distribution to flow curve and (ii) flow curve to MI.
Solution behavior of thermo‐responsive polymers and their complexes with biological macromolecules may be affected by environmental conditions, such as the concentration of macromolecular components, pH, ion concentration, etc. Therefore, a thermo‐responsive polymer and its complexes should be characterized in detail to observe their responses against possible environments under physiological conditions before biological applications. To briefly indicate this important issue, thermo‐responsive block copolymer of quaternized poly(4‐vinylpyridine) and poly(oligoethyleneglycol methyl ether methacrylate) as a potential nonviral vector has been synthesized. Polyelectrolyte complexes of this copolymer with the antisense oligonucleotide of c‐Myc oncogene are also thermo‐responsive but, have lower LCST (lower critical solution temperature) values compared to individual copolymer. LCST values of complexes decrease with molar ratio of macromolecular components and presence of salt. Dilution of solutions also affects solution behavior of complexes and causes a significant decrease in size and an increase in LCST, which indicates possible effects of severe dilutions in the blood stream.
In this work, reactions between industrially relevant monomers (methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, vinyl acetate, and isopropenyl acetate) and oxygen‐centered radicals (•OH and SO4•—) are studied using a combination of quantum mechanics and transition state theory. These reactions may have a strong influence on polymer structure and properties. Thus, computational methodologies able to estimate reliably coefficients for these reactions are needed to improve the understanding of emulsion polymerization processes. In the case of reactions involving •OH, the computational approach is based on the SMD‐water/M06‐2X/6‐311++G(3df, 2p)//B3LYP/6‐31+G(d, p) DFT scheme. All calculated and experimental Gibbs free energy barriers, , are within 1 kcal mol−1. In the case of reactions involving SO4•—, the SMD‐water/M06‐2X/6‐311++G(3df, 2p)//CAM‐B3LYP/6‐31+G(d, p) DFT scheme is found to be more suitable than a similar scheme based on B3LYP. This proposed scheme works well for acrylates and methacrylates (errors within 1 kcal mol−1), but it may overestimate the rate coefficients of acetates reacting with SO4•— .
A chemically cross‐linked but remarkably (re)processable shape‐memory polymer (SMP) is designed by cross‐linking poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) stars via the efficient triazolinedione click chemistry, based on the very fast and reversible Alder–ene reaction of 1,2,4‐triazoline‐3,5‐dione (TAD) with indole compounds. Typically, a six‐arm star‐shaped PCL functionalized by indole moieties at the chain ends is melt‐blended with a bisfunctional TAD, directly resulting in a cross‐linked PCL‐based SMP without the need of post‐curing treatment. As demonstrated by the stress relaxation measurement, the labile character of the TAD–indole adducts under stress allows for the solid‐state plasticity reprocessing of the permanent shape at will by compression molding of the raw cross‐linked material, while keeping excellent shape‐memory properties.
The sodium salt of the new bis(mesitoyl)phosphinic acid (BAPO‐OH) can be prepared in a very efficient one‐pot synthesis. It is well soluble in water and hydrolytically stable for at least several weeks. Remarkably, it acts as an initiating agent for the surfactant‐free emulsion polymerization (SFEP) of styrene to yield monodisperse, spherical nanoparticles. Time‐resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (TR‐EPR) and chemically induced electron polarisation (CIDEP) indicate preliminary mechanistic insights.
Nowadays, the synthesis of (semi)aromatic polymers from lignin derivatives is of major interest, as aromatic compounds are key intermediates in the manufacture of polymers and lignin is the main source of aromatic biobased substrates. Phenols with a variety of chemical structures can be obtained from lignin deconstruction; among them, vanillin and ferulic acid are the main ones. Depending on the phenol substrates, different chemical modifications and polymerization pathways are developed, leading to (semi)aromatic polymers covering a wide range of thermomechanical properties. This review discusses the synthesis and properties of thermosets (vinyl ester resins, cyanate ester, epoxy, and benzoxazine resins) and thermoplastic polymers (polyesters, polyanhydrides, Schiff base polymers, polyacetals, polyoxalates, polycarbonates, acrylate polymers) prepared from vanillin, ferulic acid, guaiacol, syringaldehyde, or 4‐hydroxybenzoic acid.
Cell sorting is important for cell biology and regenerative medicine. A visible light‐responsive cell scaffold is produced using gold nanoparticles and collagen gel. Various kinds of cells are cultured on the visible light‐responsive cell scaffold, and the target cells are selectively detached by photoirradiation without any cytotoxicity. This is a new image‐guided cell sorting system.
The coil‐globule transition of short hydrophobic‐polar (HP) chains, composed of 24 hydrophilic monomers and 24 polar monomers, in solution and on hydrophobic surface and the adsorption of the HP chain on hydrophobic surface are simulated. The coil‐globule transition point of the HP chain is dependent on sequence of chain but is roughly independent of the surface adsorption strength. Whereas the critical adsorption point of the HP chain is roughly independent of sequence. In addition, the lowest energy states can be obtained for the HP chain in solution or on surface by Monte Carlo simulated annealing method. Results show that the statistical conformation is strongly dependent on the intrachain H‐H attraction strength and the surface adsorption strength.
Polymer‐protein conjugates are biohybrid macromolecules derived from covalently connecting synthetic polymers with polypeptides. The resulting materials combine the properties of both worlds: chemists can engineer polymers to stabilize proteins, to add functionality, or to enhance activity; whereas biochemists can exploit the specificity and complexity that Nature has bestowed upon its macromolecules. This has led to a wealth of applications, particularly within the realm of biomedicine. Polymer‐protein conjugation has expanded to include scaffolds for drug delivery, tissue engineering, and microbial inhibitors. This feature article reflects upon recent developments in the field and discusses the applications of these hybrids from a biomaterials standpoint.
By simply blending two diblock copolymers with the same chemistry but with different compositions one is able to create well‐defined larger soft nanoparticles as well as bimodal soft nanoparticles. Specifically, blending two diblock copolymers in a solvent good for both blocks followed by a gradual introduction of a non‐solvent results in a mixed micelle, larger than their pure block‐copolymer‐forming micelles. The formation of well‐defined larger micelle is due to the balance between the ability of the mixed micelles to assemble or merge in comparison to their pure diblock copolymer micelles. Evidently, the blending ratio, the mixing protocol, and non‐solvent addition rate are crucial to achieving well‐defined larger or bimodal micelles.
Step‐growth polymerized systems of general type “AfiBgi” are considered. One or more of the monomer species carries at least three reactive groups and thus can act as a branching point in a polymeric molecule. An algorithmic method is presented to calculate the topology‐averaged square radius of gyration, R 2[s ], of the molecules in the class of s‐mers. The degree of polymerization, s , may run through its full range. In addition to R 2[s ], the shrinking factor, g [s ], is calculated. The method uses integer arithmetic, generating functions, and computer algebra.
An advanced Monte Carlo (MC) method is developed, using weight‐based selection of polymer chains, to predict the molecular weight distribution (MWD) and branching level for arborescent polyisobutylene (arbPIB) at the end of a batch reaction. This new weight‐based MC method uses differential equations and random numbers to determine the detailed structure of arbPIB molecules. Results agree with those from an advanced number‐based MC method. The proposed weight‐based algorithm requires approximately twice the computation time of the number‐based method, but produces more accurate results in the high‐molecular‐weight portion of the MWD when the same number of polymer chains is assembled.
Multivalent binding is a key for many critical biological processes and unique recognition and specificity in binding enables many of different glycans and proteins to work in a great harmony within the human body. In this study, the binding kinetics of synthetic glycopolypeptides to the dendritic cell lectin DC‐SIGN and their inhibition potential for DC‐SIGN interactions with the gp120 envelope glycoprotein of HIV‐1 (gp120) are investigated.
