Synthesis,characterization, and star polymer assembly of boronic acid end‐functionalized polycaprolactone

Boronic acid end‐functionalized polycaprolactone (PCL) polymers were synthesized by ring‐opening polymerization using a pinacol boronate ester‐containing (Bpin) initiator. The polymerization provides access to boron‐terminated polymers (i.e. Bpin‐PCL‐OH) with narrow molecular weight distributions (PDI = 1.09). Postsynthetic manipulation of the polymer's terminal hydroxyl group by copper‐catalyzed azide‐alkyne cycloaddition chemistry provides a series of bis end‐functionalized polymers with significant structural diversity at the termini. Deprotection of the boronate ester end group was accomplished with an acidic solid phase DOWEX resin. The boronate ester deprotection methodology does not result in hydrolysis of the polymeric backbone. The boronic acid‐tipped polymers were converted into star polymer assemblies using thermal dehydration and ligand‐facilitated trimerization. Thermal dehydration of (HO)₂B‐PCL‐OAc to the corresponding boroxine‐based star polymer assembly was inefficient and lead to degradation products. Ligand‐facilitated trimerization using either pyridine or 7‐azaindole as the Lewis base was efficient and mild. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2010     

Solid state polymerization of poly(lactic acid): Some fundamental parameters

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) was submitted to solid state polymerization (SSP) in a fixed bed reactor under nitrogen flow, so as to examine technique efficiency for increasing the molecular weight and hence permitting the reduction of the melt polymerization residence times. In order to use a suitable starting material, SSP prepolymers of low and medium molecular weight were first prepared through solid state hydrolysis of commercial PLA grade under acidic and alkaline conditions. During these degradation runs, hydrolysis involved the random scission of ester groups in the polymer backbone, while the relevant kinetics and the resulting thermal properties were also examined. In a subsequent step, the prepolymers obtained were subjected to SSP at three temperatures, approximately 2.5–25.0 °C below their melting point. The process achieved an increase of up to 1.7 times the initial molecular weight, however, with different trends depending on the prepolymer characteristics, reaction temperature and time, as well as the pH of the hydrolysis medium. In addition to molecular weight build up, the effect of the SSP process on end product thermal properties was also investigated.     

Disproportionating versus nondisproportionating solvent effect in the SET‐LRP of methyl acrylate during catalysis with nonactivated and activated cu(0) wire

The disproportionating solvent effect on the kinetics of single electron transfer living radical polymerization (SET‐LRP) during catalysis with nonactivated Cu(0) wire coated with Cu₂O and activated Cu(0) wire free of Cu₂O was studied. In solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide, MeOH and ethylene carbonate that in conjunction with Me₆‐TREN promote extensitve disproportionation of Cu(I)X, faster polymerizations were achieved upon switching from nonactivated Cu(0) wire to activated Cu(0) wire. The results showed that the substantial rate enhancement was accompanied with excellent control of molecular weight evolution and distribution, and high fidelity of chain‐end functionality. This can be attributed to a more effective equilibrium between activation and deactivation in the presence of Cu(0) free of Cu₂O. In nondisproportionating solvents, the kinetics of SET‐LRP of methyl acrylate catalyzed by activated Cu(0) wire resembled that of the polymerizations catalyzed by nonactivated wire. This is the result of a competing effect between rapid activation and insufficient disproportionation. The absence of disproportionation effectively leads to the lack of first order kinetics, broad molecular weight distribution, significant loss of bromide chain‐end functionality, and therefore, the absence of a living polymerization. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Synthesis of amphiphilic homopolymers with high chain end functionality by SET–LRP

Single electron transfer-living radical polymerization (SET–LRP) of two amphiphilic acrylates, 2-methoxyethyl acrylate up to [M]₀/[I]₀ = 1,000 and di(ethylene glycol) 2-ethylhexyl ether acrylate up to [M]₀/[I]₀ = 200, is accomplished with good control of molecular weight and molecular weight distribution in 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol at 25 °C using hydrazine activated Cu(0) wire as catalyst, methyl 2-bromopropionate as initiator, and Me₆-TREN as ligand. The chain end functionality of the resulting polymers has been analyzed by MALDI-TOF spectrometry to demonstrate the synthesis of perfect or near-perfect chain-end functional amphiphilic homopolymers. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 294–303     

Water‐soluble polymer‐grafted platinum nanoparticles for the subsequent binding of enzymes. synthesis and SANS

Functionalized platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) possess catalytic properties towards H₂0₂ oxidation, which are of great interest for the elaboration of electrochemical biosensors. To improve the understanding of phenomena involved in such systems, we designed platinum‐polymer‐enzyme model nanostructures according to a bottom–up approach. These structures have been elaborated from elementary building units based on polymer‐grafted PtNPs obtained from surface initiated‐atom transfer radical polymerization. This paper describes the polymerization of ter‐butyl methacrylate from PtNPs and its subsequent hydrolysis to obtain a water‐soluble corona, followed by an activated ester modification to introduce an enzyme (glucose oxidase). The structure of the objects, the molecular weight and the grafting density of the polymer chains were principally elucidated by small angle neutron scattering (SANS). After the grafting of the enzyme, the final hybrid structures were characterized by both microscopy and SANS to attest for the covalent grafting of the enzyme. Composition and enzyme activity of the nanohybrid objects, have also been determined by UV spectroscopy. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Novel acid initiators for the rapid cationic polymerization of styrene in room temperature ionic liquids

Cationic polymerization of styrene has been achieved using several novel acidic initiators in room temperature ionic liquids (ILs) under mild reaction conditions to obtain polymers of low molecular weight with narrow polydispersity. Both strong protic acids such as bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) amide acid (HTFSA) and a moderately weak acid such as bisoxalato phosphorous acid (HBOP) have been studied as initiators. It has been observed that HTFSA initiates the polymerization rapidly even at room temperature and below, as compared to HBOP which produces a slower polymerization requiring elevated temperatures to complete. The relative difference in reactivity of the initiators as compared to the previously described HBOB initiator is discussed in terms of the difference in their proton acidity and the consequential basicity of the anions. The efficiency of different ILs as the reaction solvent is also presented.     

Simple polymerization through oxygen at reduced volumes using oil and water

An enduring question is: what is the simplest and easiest way to obtain tailored polymers? This communication explores a robust photoiniferter polymerization with only two active ingredients that requires no prior deoxygenation and can be performed on the milliliter scale or sub-milliliter scale. Rather than leaving headspace in the polymerization vessel or scaling reactions up to fill the vessel, this approach fills the headspace of the reaction vessel with mineral oil or inert solvents. This approach can also be applied to polar monomers in aqueous media, using oil as the inert solvent, or to hydrophobic monomers with water as the inert solvent. This method removes enough ambient oxygen that the photoiniferter reaction proceeds with no deoxygenation step, and achieves high conversion and good molecular weight control in 10–20 h in both aqueous and organic solvents. Complex polymer architectures such as multiblock copolymers and gradient polymers were successfully synthesized by this approach.     

Tetrafunctional initiators for cationic polymerization of olefins

3,3′,5,5′‐Tetrakis(2‐chloro‐2‐propyl)biphenyl (biphenyl tetracumyl chloride, BPTCC) and 1,3‐bis[3,5‐bis(2‐chloro‐2‐propyl)phenoxy]propane (diphenoxypropane tetracumyl chloride, DPPTCC) were synthesized as initiators for quasiliving cationic polymerization of isobutylene (IB). In the synthesis of BPTCC, tetrafunctionality was achieved via the coupling of dimethyl 5‐bromoisophthalate (DMBI) using nickel dibromide bis(triphenylphosphine) and zinc in the presence of a base; in the synthesis of DPPTCC, two equivalents of dimethyl 5‐hydroxyisophthalate were linked via reaction with 1,3‐dibromopropane in the presence of potassium carbonate. Both initiators were used to initiate the polymerization of IB under quasiliving cationic polymerization conditions. PIB initiated from BPTCC revealed a chain end/molecule value (as determined by ¹H‐NMR) of 3.85, verifying the nearly exclusive production of 4‐arm polyisobutylene (PIB). GPC analysis revealed a narrow peak representing the target four‐arm PIB, with a slight shoulder at high elution volumes (low molecular weights). GPC analysis of the PIB initiated by DPPTCC revealed multimodal distributions, suggesting the formation of two‐, three‐, and four‐arm star polymers during the polymerization. This behavior was attributed to Friedel–Crafts alkylation of the initiator core after the addition of one IB unit, which was activated by the electron‐donating oxytrimethyleneoxy linking moiety. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5942–5953, 2004     

SET‐LRP of methyl methacrylate initiated with sulfonyl halides

Single electron transfer‐living radical polymerization (SET‐LRP) represents a robust and versatile method for the rapid synthesis of macromolecules with defined architecture. The present article describes the polymerization of methyl methacrylate by SET‐LRP in protic solvent mixtures. Herein, the polymerization process was catalyzed by a straightforward Cu(0)wire/Me₆‐TREN catalyst while initiation was obtained by toluenesulfonyl chloride. All experiments were conducted at 50 °C and the living polymerization was demonstrated by kinetic evaluation of the SET‐LRP. The process follows first order kinetic until all monomer is consumed which was typically achieved within 4 h. The molecular weight increased linearly with conversion and the molecular weight distributions were very narrow with M_w/M_n ～ 1.1. Detailed investigations of the polymer samples by MALDI‐TOF confirmed that no termination took place and that the chain end functionality is retained throughout the polymerization process. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 2236–2242, 2010     

Lipase-Catalyzed Polyester Synthesis

Abstract

The use of lipase as biocatalyst in polyesterification of aliphatic diacids or their derivatives, and diols in an organic solvent has been discussed. We have demonstrated that bis(2-chloroethyl) esters of succinic, fumaric, and maleic acid, and bis(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl) sebacate and -dodecanedioate can be polymerized by lipase-catalyzed polytransesterification. Maleate was isomerized to fumarate even under mild reaction conditions, resulting in poly(1,4-butyl fumarate). In order to obtain a high mass-average molar mass of the polyester, solid Mucor miehei lipase was found to be the best lipase and diphenyl ether the best solvent of several investigated. There was no clear relationship with the log P value of the solvent and the polyesterification activity of lipase. The highest degree of polymerization (DP = 184) of poly(1,4-butyl sebacate) with a mass-average molar mass of 46,600 g·mol^?1 was obtained in polytransesterification of bis(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl) sebacate and 1,4-butanediol using a programmed vacuum profile. However, a mass-average molar mass as high as about 42,000 g·mol^?1 (DP = 167) was also obtained with free sebacic acid when vacuum was employed to remove the water formed during esterification. The mass average molar mass of the polyester increased with an increase in the relative quantity of lipase up to 1 g per 1.5 mmol of diacid, with an increase in the molar mass of the aliphatic diol up to 1,5-pentanediol, and with an increase in the concentration of substrates up to 0.83 M.     

Phosphines: Nucleophilic organic catalysts for the controlled ring‐opening polymerization of lactides

A new metal‐free synthetic approach to the controlled ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of lactide with nucleophilic phosphines as transesterification catalysts is described. P(Bu)₃, PhPMe₂, Ph₂PMe, PPh₃, and related phosphines are commercially available, inexpensive catalysts that generate narrowly dispersed polylactides with predictable molecular weights. These organic catalysts must be used in combination with an initiator, such as an alcohol, to generate an alcoholate ester α‐end group upon ROP. A likely polymerization pathway is through a monomer‐activated mechanism, with minimal active species, facilitating narrow molecular weight distributions. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 844–851, 2002; DOI 10.1002/pola.10168     

Copper(0)‐mediated living radical polymerization of acrylonitrile: SET‐LRP or AGET‐ATRP

Cu(0)‐mediated living radical polymerization was first extended to acrylonitrile (AN) to synthesize polyacrylonitrile with a high molecular weight and a low polydispersity index. This was achieved by using Cu(0)/hexamethylated tris(2‐aminoethyl)amine (Me₆‐TREN) as the catalyst, 2‐bromopropionitrile as the initiator, and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as the solvent. The reaction was performed under mild reaction conditions at ambient temperature and thus biradical termination reaction was low. The rapid and extensive disproportionation of Cu(I)Br/Me₆‐TREN in DMSO/AN supports a mechanism consistent with a single electron transfer‐living radical polymerization (SET‐LRP) rather than activators generated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (AGET ATRP). ¹H NMR analysis and chain extension experiment confirm the high chain‐end functionality of the resultant polymer. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2010     

Hydrodynamic Activation of the Batch-Polymerization of Methyl methacrylate in a Taylor-Couette Reactor

Summary: In this work, the free radical batch polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) premixed with xylene as a solvent, in the presence of an initiator, 2,2-azoisobutyronitrile (AIBN), in the Taylor-Couette reactor was studied. We observed an unexpected influence of hydrodynamic process parameters, i.e. angular velocity ω, on the polymer conversion, molecular weight and viscosity of the produced polymer. The polymerization process seems to be activated by hydrodynamic process parameters. Hydrodynamic activation is a promoting effect of process parameters on polymer product properties. The hydrodynamic activation is found to depend on the reaction time and the angular velocity of the inner cylinder. In addition, our results highlight both the reaction kinetics and the hydrodynamics during the polymerization. The conversion exhibits a significant difference between tests with and without the angular velocity of the inner cylinder. The conversion and the molecular weight strongly increase with the increase of the angular velocity of the inner cylinder, whereas the viscosity is less strongly dependent. There is more increase with decreasing solvent concentration. The radial Reynolds number decreases with increasing conversion. The polymerization is faster with a low solvent concentration, and the molecular weight is higher compared to the case of high solvent concentration.     

Synthesis and Polymerization Reactions of Cyclic Imino Ethers. 4. Aromatic Poly(ester amide)s of the AA+BB Type on the Basis of 2-Oxazolines

Poly(ester amide)s were prepared by thermally initiated polymerization from two aromatic bis(2-oxazoline)s and four aromatic dicarboxylic acids. Polymerizations were performed in bulk and in solution. The structure of the polymers formed was confirmed by spectral analysis. The synthesis is limited by the thermal stability of the starting compounds. Limitation of the solution polymerization is the solubility of the starting compounds and the products in the solvent used. The prepared polymers have very good thermal properties.     

Preparation and Synthetic Application of Naproxen-Containing Diaryliodonium Salts

The synthesis of naproxen-containing diaryliodonium salts has been realized from naproxen methyl ester and ArI(OH)OTs activated by trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate (TMSOTf) in a solvent mixture comprising dichloromethane and 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE). Those iodonium salts have been successfully used in the functionalization of an aromatic ring of naproxen methyl ester, including fluorination, iodination, alkynylation, arylation, thiophenolation, and amination and esterification reactions. Moreover, further hydrolysis of the obtained 5-iodo-naproxen methyl ester afforded 5-iodo-naproxen.     

Synthesis of Isotactic–Heterotactic Stereoblock (Hard–Soft) Poly(lactide) with Tacticity Control through Immortal Coordination Polymerization

A one‐pot method for the preparation of a new family of PLA materials is reported that combines heterotactic (soft) and isotactic stereoblocks (hard). The ring‐opening polymerization of rac‐lactide with a salan–rare‐earth‐metal–alkyl complex in the presence of excess triethanolamine was performed in an immortal mode to give three‐armed heterotactic poly(lactide) (soft) with excellent end‐hydroxy fidelity. The in situ addition of a salen–aluminum–alkyl precursor to the above polymerization system under any monomer‐conversion conditions activated the “dormant” hydroxy‐ended PLA chains to propagate through the incorporation of the remaining rac‐lactide monomer, but with isospecific selectivity (hard). The resultant PLA had a three‐armed architecture with controlled molecular weight and extremely narrow molecular‐weight distribution (PDI<1.08). More strikingly, each side‐arm simultaneously possessed highly heterotactic (soft) and highly isotactic (hard) segments and the ratio of these two stereoregular sequences could be swiftly adjusted by tuning the addition time of the salen–aluminum–alkyl precursor to the polymerization system. Therefore, star‐shaped hard–soft stereoblock poly(lactide)s with various P_m values and crystallinity were achieved in a single reactor for the first time. This strategy should be applicable to the synthesis of a series of new types of stereoblock polyesters by using an immortal‐polymerization process and a proper choice of specific, selective metal‐based catalysts.     

“Nascent” Cu(0) nanoparticles‐mediated single electron transfer living radical polymerization of acrylonitrile at ambient temperature

Zn(0)/ppm concentrations of CuBr₂ from 10 to 50 ppm was firstly used to catalyze radical polymerization of acrylonitrile at ambient temperature. The polymerization displayed typical living radical polymerization (LRP) characteristics, as evidenced by pseudo first‐order kinetics of polymerization, linear increase of number‐average molecular weight, and low polydispersity index (PDI) value. Effects of solvent, copper concentration, and initiator concentration on the polymerization reaction and molecular weight as well as PDI were investigated in detail. EC excelled NMP, DMF, and DMSO in terms of rate of polymerization as well as control of molecular weight and PDI. The increase of the copper concentration from 2.5 to 50 ppm leads to a higher rate of polymerization and a better control over the polymerization reaction. ¹H NMR and GPC analyses as well as chain extension reaction confirmed the very high chain‐end functionality of the resultant polymer. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013     

Preparation of thermoresponsive polymers bearing amino acid diamide derivatives via RAFT polymerization

We report here the synthesis of well‐defined homopolymer bearing amino acid diamide, poly(N‐acryloyl‐L ‐valine N′‐methylamide), via reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization using alkynyl‐functionalized 2‐dodecylsulfanylthiocarbonylsulfanyl‐2‐methyl‐propionic acid propargyl alcohol ester as chain transfer agent (CTA) and 2,2′‐azobis(isobutyronitrile) as initiator. The effects of a variety of parameters, such as temperature and solvent, on RAFT polymerization were examined to determine the optimal control of the polymerization. The controlled nature of RAFT polymerization was evidenced by the controllable molecular weight and low‐molecular‐weight polydispersity index (M_w/M_n) of resulting homopolymers and further demonstrated to have retained end‐group functionality by the fact of the successful formation of block copolymers from further RAFT polymerization by using the resultant polymer as macro‐CTA, as well as from “click” chemistry. Thermoresponsive property of the prepared polymer was evaluated in terms of the lower critical solution temperature in aqueous solution by measuring the transmittance variation at 500 nm from UV/vis spectroscopy. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 3573–3586, 2010     

Controlled Positioning of Activated Ester Moieties on Well‐Defined Linear Polymer Chains

The successful sequence‐controlled installation of an activated ester using a newly designed monomer pentafluorophenyl 4‐maleimidobenzoate is demonstrated. Pentafluorophenyl 4‐maleimidobenzoate is kinetically installed at different stages of a nitroxide‐mediated polymerization, namely, near the α‐chain end and in the middle of a PS chain. In addition, successful installation of apolar and polar functional groups is achieved via post‐polymerization functionalization, which demonstrated the versatility of the synthesis of a universal precursor for locally functionalized polymers.     

Living radical polymerization of diisopropyl fumarate to obtain block copolymers containing rigid poly(substituted methylene) and flexible polyacrylate segments

Living radical polymerizations of diisopropyl fumarate (DiPF) are carried out to synthesize poly(diisopropyl fumarate) (PDiPF) as a rigid poly(substituted methylene) and its block copolymers combined with a flexible polyacrylate segment. Reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization is suitable to obtain a high‐molecular‐weight PDiPF with well‐controlled molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, and chain‐end structures, while organotellurium‐mediated living radical polymerization (TERP) and reversible chain transfer catalyzed polymerization (RTCP) give PDiPF with controlled chain structures under limited polymerization conditions. In contrast, controlled polymerization for the production of high‐molecular‐weight and well‐defined PDiPF is not achieved by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and nitroxide‐mediated radical polymerization (NMP). The block copolymers consisting of rigid poly(substituted methylene) and flexible polyacrylate segments are synthesized by the RAFT polymerization. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 2136–2147