Acid‐promoted double ring‐opening reaction of bicyclobis (γ‐butyrolactone) with alcohol and its application to polyester synthesis

Bicyclobis(γ‐butyrolactone) (BBL) bearing methyl group 1a reacted with benzyl alcohol (BnOH) in the presence of p‐toluenesulfonic acid (p‐TsOH) through the double ring‐opening of the bislactone structure to afford the corresponding adduct 2a bearing carboxyl group. The resulting carboxyl group underwent condensation with BnOH to afford the corresponding diester 3a . The second step was quite slow at ambient temperature; however, it was efficiently accelerated by elevating temperature to 120 °C or performing under reduced pressure at 80 °C to afford 3a in an excellent yield. Based on these results, the reaction of 1a with xylene‐α,α‐diol (XyD) was carried out in chlorobenzene at 120 °C to obtain the corresponding polyester bearing ketone group in the side chain. The condensation reaction in the second step was effectively promoted by simultaneous removal of water under reduced pressure. BBLs 1b and 1c bearing reactive groups, isopropenyl and chloromethyl, respectively, were also employed as monomers efficiently. Their reactions with XyD gave the corresponding reactive polyesters bearing methacryloyl and chloroacetyl moieties, respectively. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Radical ring‐opening copolymerization behavior of vinyloxirane: Synthesis of copolymer from 2‐isopropenyl‐3‐phenyloxirane and styrene and its functionalization

The radical ring‐opening copolymerization of 2‐isopropenyl‐3‐phenyloxirane (1) with styrene (St) was examined to obtain the copolymer [copoly(1‐St)] with a vinyl ether moiety in the main chain. The copolymers were obtained in moderate yields by copolymerization in various feed ratios of 1 and St over 120 °C; the number‐average molecular weights (M_n) were estimated to be 1800–4200 by gel permeation chromatography analysis. The ratio of the vinyl ether and St units of copoly(1‐St) was estimated with the ¹H NMR spectra and varied from 1/7 to 1/14 according to the initial feed ratio of 1 and St. The haloalkoxylation of copoly(1‐St) with ethylene glycol in the presence of N‐chlorosuccinimide produced a new copolymer with alcohol groups and chlorine atoms in the side group in a high yield. The M_n value of the haloalkoxylated polymer was almost the same as that of the starting copoly(1‐St). The incorporated halogen was determined by elemental analysis. The analytical result indicated that over 88% of the vinyl ether groups participated in the haloalkoxylation. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 3729–3735, 2000     

Synthesis,Characterization, and thermoresponsive properties of Helical Polypeptides Derivatized from Poly(γ−4‐(3‐chloropropoxycarbonyl)benzyl‐L‐glutamate)

A series of side‐chain‐functionalized α‐helical polypeptides, i.e., poly(γ‐4‐(3‐chloropropoxycarbonyl)benzyl‐_L‐glutamate) (6) have been prepared from n‐butylamine initiated ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of γ‐4‐(3‐chloropropoxycarbonyl)benzyl‐_L‐glutamic acid‐based N‐carboxyanhydride. Polypeptides bearing oligo‐ethylene‐glycol (OEG) groups or 1‐butylimidazolium salts were prepared from 6 via copper‐mediated [2+3] alkyne‐azide 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition or nuleophilic substitution, respectively. CD and FTIR analysis revealed that the polymers adopt α‐helical conformations both in solution and the solid state. Polymers bearing OEG (m = 3) side‐chains showed reversible LCST‐type phase transition behaviors in water while polymers bearing 1‐butylimidazolium and I^? counter‐anions exhibited reversible UCST‐type transitions in water. Variable‐temperature UV‐vis analysis revealed that the phase transition temperatures (T_pts) were dependent on the main‐chain length and polymeric concentration. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 2469–2480     

Synthesis of networked polymer based on ring‐opening addition reaction of 1,3‐benzoxazine with resorcinol

A highly efficient ring‐opening addition reaction of benzoxazine at ambient temperature has been developed with 2‐methylresorcinol as a nucleophilic reagent. In this reaction, 2‐methylresorcinol reacted with two equivalent amount of benzoxazine to give the corresponding 1:2 adduct, demonstrating its potential as a bifunctional nucleophile. Based on this reaction, a new crosslinking system consisting of a polymer bearing benzoxazine moieties in the side chains and 2‐methylresorcinol as a crosslinker has been performed to obtain the corresponding networked polymer. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Photoinitiated cationic polymerization of limonene 1,2‐oxide and α‐pinene oxide

Limonene 1,2‐oxide (LMO) and α‐pinene oxide (α‐PO) are two high reactivity biorenewable monomers that undergo facile photoinitiated cationic ring‐opening polymerizations using both diaryliodonium salt and triarylsufonium salt photoinitiators. Comparative studies showed that α‐PO is more reactive than LMO, and this is because it undergoes a simultaneous double ring‐opening reaction involving both the epoxide group and the cyclobutane ring. It was also observed that α‐PO also undergoes more undesirable side reactions than LMO. The greatest utility of these two monomers is projected to be as reactive diluents in crosslinking photocopolymerizations with multifunctional epoxide and oxetane monomers. Prototype copolymerization studies with several difunctional monomers showed that LMO and α‐PO were effective in increasing the reaction rates and shortening the induction periods of photopolymerizations of these monomers. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013     

Functionalized PEG‐b‐PAGE‐b‐PLGA triblock terpolymers as materials for nanoparticle preparation

A series of poly(ethylene glycol)‐block‐poly(allyl glycidyl ether) (PEG‐b‐PAGE) macroinitiators are prepared using the living anionic ring‐opening polymerization (AROP) technique, and applied for further copolymerization studies. To overcome the low reactivity of the secondary hydroxyl end‐group of the PAGE block, a primary hydroxyl group is introduced into the macroinitiators via trityl and tert‐butyl‐dimethylsilane protective groups. The modified macroinitiators are used for copolymerization by applying different amounts of PEG‐b‐PAGE (5, 10, and 15%) and different PLGA lengths. To study their properties, nanoparticles from selected polymers are prepared and characterized by dynamic light scattering and scanning electron microscopy showing spherical particles with diameters around 200 nm and low PDI_particle values of 0.03–0.1. An advantage of the obtained polymers is the presence of double bonds in the side chain, which enables the modification via, for example, thiol‐ene reactions. For this purpose tertiary 2‐(dimethylamino)ethanethiol), acetylated thiogalactose and thiomannose are attached onto the double bonds of the PAGE‐blocks. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 2163–2174     

Cationic copolymerization behavior of epoxide and 3‐isochromanone

Cationic copolymerization of n‐butyl glycidyl ether (BGE) and 3‐isochromanone (ICM) was investigated using trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TfOH) as an initiator at 100 °C. In the copolymerization, the reactive site of ICM with the propagating cation was completely different from that in its homopolymerization: in the former, the propagating cation reacted with the carbonyl oxygen of ICM, while in the latter, the propagating cation reacted with the aromatic ring of ICM. In spite of the potential of ICM to undergo the homopolymerization, in the present copolymerization, ICM was consumed smoothly only in the presence of epoxide. As a result, the copolymerization proceeded in a statistic manner to afford the corresponding copolymer bearing ICM‐derived ester linkages distributed in the main chain. Cationic copolymerization of bisphenol A‐diglycidyl ether and ICM was also performed to synthesize the corresponding networked polymer. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 4213–4220     

Synthesis of poly(ethylene oxide) with pending 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐1‐oxyl groups and its further initiation of the grafting polymerization of styrene

A new stratagem for the synthesis of amphiphilic graft copolymers of hydrophilic poly(ethylene oxide) as the main chain and hydrophobic polystyrene as the side chains is suggested. A poly(ethylene oxide) with pending 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐1‐oxyls [poly(4‐glycidyloxy‐2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐1‐oxyl‐co‐ethylene oxide)] was first prepared by the anionic ring‐opening copolymerization of ethylene oxide and 4‐glycidyloxy‐2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐1‐oxyl, and then the graft copolymerization of styrene was completed with benzoyl peroxide as the initiator in the presence of poly(4‐glycidyloxy‐2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐1‐oxyl‐co‐ethylene oxide). The polymerization of styrene was under control, and comblike, amphiphilic poly(ethylene oxide)‐g‐polystyrene was obtained. The copolymer and its intermediates were characterized with size exclusion chromatography, ¹H NMR, and electron spin resonance in detail. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 3836–3842, 2006     

Cationic copolymerization behavior of cyclic ether monomers with norbornene‐containing cyclic carbonate or spiro–orthoether structure

Cationic ring‐opening copolymerizations of various cyclic ether compounds with volume expanding monomers bearing norbornene backbones [norbornene‐spiro orthocarbonate (N‐SOC) and norbornene‐cyclic carbonate (N‐CC)] were carried out in the presence of a thermally latent initiator 1 . The 10% weight loss decomposition temperatures (T_d10) and the volume changes on the copolymerizations were measured for these resultant products. In the comparison between copolymerizations of bifunctional epoxide 2 with N‐SOC and with N‐CC, it was found that N‐CC served as a more useful volume controllable comonomer than N‐SOC. The copolymerizations with N‐CC yielded the products with a decrease in the volume change (volume shrinkage) and with an increase in the monomer feed ratio of N‐CC; T_d10 was relatively similar to the homopolymer of epoxide 2 and was observed except when the proportion of N‐CC was more than 20% in the monomer feed ratio of N‐CC. In contrast, similar copolymerizations with N‐SOC did not exhibit such tendencies, probably because of the low efficiency of the copolymerization derived from the low miscibility of N‐SOC for the epoxide. The other copolymerization systems of other bi‐ and monocyclic ether compounds ( 3 – 6 and phenyl glycidyl ether) with N‐CC also indicated an almost similar tendency toward that of the copolymerization with epoxide 2 . © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5113–5120, 2004     

Synthesis of a new 2‐amino‐glycan,poly‐(1→6)‐α‐D‐mannosamine,by ring‐opening polymerization of 1,6‐anhydro‐mannosamine derivatives

A stereoregular 2‐amino‐glycan composed of a mannosamine residue was prepared by ring‐opening polymerization of anhydro sugars. Two different monomers, 1,6‐anhydro‐2‐azido‐mannose derivative ( 3 ) and 1,6‐anhydro‐2‐(N, N‐dibenzylamino)‐mannose derivative ( 6 ), were synthesized and polymerized. Although 3 gave merely oligomers, 6 was promptly polymerized into high polymers of the number‐average molecular weight (M_n) of 2.3 × 10⁴ to 2.9 × 10⁴ with 1,6‐α stereoregularity. The differences of polymerizability of 3 and 6 from those of the corresponding glucose homologs were discussed. It was found that an N‐benzyl group is exceedingly suitable for protecting an amino group in the polymerization of anhydro sugars of a mannosamine type. The simultaneous removal of O‐ and N‐benzyl groups of the resulting polymers was achieved by using sodium in liquid ammonia to produce the first 2‐amino‐glycan, poly‐(1→6)‐α‐D ‐mannosamine, having high molecular weight through ring‐opening polymerization of anhydro sugars.© 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Preparation of novel poly(ethylene oxide‐co‐glycidol)‐graft‐poly(ε‐caprolactone) copolymers and inclusion complexation of the grafted chains with α‐cyclodextrin

A well‐defined comblike copolymer of poly(ethylene oxide‐co‐glycidol) [(poly(EO‐co‐Gly)] as the main chain and poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) as the side chain was successfully prepared by the combination of anionic polymerization and ring‐opening polymerization. The glycidol was protected by ethyl vinyl ether to form 2,3‐epoxypropyl‐1‐ethoxyethyl ether (EPEE) first, and then ethylene oxide was copolymerized with EPEE by an anionic mechanism. The EPEE segments of the copolymer were deprotected by formic acid, and the glycidol segments of the copolymers were recovered after saponification. Poly(EO‐co‐Gly) with multihydroxyls was used further to initiate the ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone in the presence of stannous octoate. When the grafted copolymer was mixed with α‐cyclodextrin, crystalline inclusion complexes (ICs) were formed, and the intermediate and final products, poly(ethylene oxide‐co‐glycidol)‐graft‐poly(ε‐caprolactone) and ICs, were characterized with gel permeation chromatography, NMR, differential scanning calorimetry, X‐ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis in detail. The obtained ICs had a channel‐type crystalline structure, and the ratio of ε‐caprolactone units to α‐cyclodextrin for the ICs was higher than 1:1. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 3684–3691, 2006     

Synthesis of polyester having sequentially ordered two orthogonal reactive groups by anionic alternating copolymerization of epoxide and bislactone

This article presents a route to a novel polyester having sequentially ordered two orthogonal reactive groups. The polyester was given by the imidazole‐initiated alternating copolymerization of allyl glycidyl ether (AGE) and a bislactone 1 . This copolymerization system is characterized by the following three reaction behaviors: (1) the selective participation of only one of the two lactone moieties of 1 to the copolymerization to give a linear polyester, and the consequent introduction of the second lactone into the side chain of the polyester, (2) the participation of the epoxy moiety in AGE to the copolymerization, and the consequent introduction of the carbon–carbon double bond into the side chain of the polyester, and (3) arrangement of the sequentially ordered two orthogonal reactive groups according to the alternating manner. The introduction of the two reactive groups to the side chain of the alternating copolymer allowed two routes of sequential chemoselective reactions: (A) The ring‐opening reaction of the lactone moiety with n‐propylamine and the following Pt‐catalyzed hydrosilylation of the carbon–carbon double bond with dimethylphenylsilane and (B) the sequential reactions of the reverse order. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2009     

Synthesis and cationic ring‐opening polymerization of oxetane monomer containing five‐membered cyclic carbonate moiety via highly chemoselective addition of CO2

The bicyclic amidinium iodide effectively catalyzed the reaction of carbon dioxide and the epoxy‐containing oxetane under ordinary pressure and mild conditions with high chemoselectivity to give the corresponding oxetane monomer containing five‐membered cyclic carbonate quantitatively. The cationic ring‐opening polymerization of the obtained monomer by boron trifluoride diethyl ether proceeded to give linear polyoxetane bearing five‐membered cyclic carbonate pendant group in high yield. The molecular weight of the polyoxetane was higher than that of polyepoxide obtained by the cationic ring‐opening polymerization of epoxide monomer containing five‐membered cyclic carbonate. The cyclic carbonate functional crosslinked polyoxetanes were also synthesized by the cationic ring‐opening copolymerization of cyclic carbonate having oxetane and commercially available bisoxetane monomers. Analyses of the resulting polyoxetanes were performed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance, size exclusion chromatography, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 2606–2615     

Photoinduced and thermally induced cationic polymerizations using S,S‐dialkyl‐S‐(3,5‐dimethylhydroxyphenyl)sulfonium salts

A study of the photoinitiated and thermally initiated cationic polymerizations of several monomer systems with S,S‐dialkyl‐S‐(3,5‐dimethylhydroxyphenyl)sulfonium salt (HPS) photoinitiators bearing different lengths of alkyl chains on the positively charged sulfur atom has been conducted. HPS photoinitiators are capable of photoinitiating the cationic polymerization of a wide variety of epoxy and vinyl ether monomers directly on irradiation with short‐wavelength UV light. Aryl ketone photosensitizers are effective in extending the spectral response of these photoinitiators into the long‐wavelength UV region. Kinetic studies with real‐time infrared spectroscopy show that HPS photoinitiators exhibit good efficiency in the polymerization of epoxide and vinyl ether monomers. Comparative studies also demonstrate that S,S‐dimethyl‐S‐(3,5‐dimethyl‐2‐hydroxyphenyl)sulfonium salts are more active photoinitiators than their isomeric S,S‐dimethyl‐S‐(3,5‐dimethyl‐4‐hydroxyphenyl)sulfonium salt counterparts. Both types of HPS photoinitiators display reversible photolysis as a result of facile termination reactions that take place between the growing chains ends with the photogenerated sulfur ylides. Preliminary studies have shown that HPS photoinitiators can also be employed as thermal initiators for the cationic ring‐opening polymerization of epoxides at moderate temperatures. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 2570–2587, 2003     

Anionic alternating copolymerization of a bifunctional six‐membered lactone and glycidyl phenyl ether: Selective synthesis of a linear polyester having lactone moiety

An imidazole‐initiated copolymerization of an aromatic bislactone, 10‐methyl‐2H,8H‐benzo[1,2‐b:5,4‐b′]bipyran‐2,8‐dione ( 1 ), and glycidyl phenyl ether (GPE) was investigated. In spite of the bifunctional nature of 1 that would potentially permit formation of networked and thus insoluble polymers upon its copolymerization, only one of the two lactone moieties of 1 exclusively underwent the copolymerization to give a linear polyester. Spectroscopic analysis of the polyester and its reductive scission into the corresponding fragment revealed that the polyester was formed by a 1:1 alternating copolymerization of GPE and the lactone moiety of 1 . The other lactone in 1 that did not participate in the copolymerization was quantitatively incorporated into the side chain of the polyester as a reactive site, of which ring‐opening reactions by amine and alcohol as nucleophilic reagents allowed chemoselective polymer reactions. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 1661–1672, 2009     

Modification of proline‐based 2,5‐diketopiperazines by anionic ring‐opening polymerization

2,5‐Diketopiperazines (DKPs) are the smallest cyclic dipeptides found in nature with various attractive properties. In this study, we have demonstrated the successful modification of proline‐based DKPs using anionic ring‐opening polymerization (AROP) as a direct approach. Four different proline‐based DKPs with various side chains and increasing steric hindrance were used as initiating species for the polymerization of 1,2‐epoxybutane or ethoxyethyl glycidyl ether in the presence of t‐BuP₄ phosphazene base. The addition of a Lewis acid, tri‐isobutyl aluminum, to the reaction mixture strongly decreased the occurrence of side reactions. Impact of the DKP side‐chain functionalities on molar mass control and dispersity was successfully evidenced. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 1008–1016     

Well‐Defined Thermoresponsive Polymethacrylamide Copolymers with Ester Pendent Groups through One‐Pot Statistical Postpolymerization Modification of Poly(2‐Isopropenyl‐2‐Oxazoline) with Multiple Carboxylic Acids

Thermoresponsive polymers that undergo a solubility phase transition in water are important as basis for the development for a wide variety of responsive and smart materials. In this study, the synthesis of thermoresponsive copolymers is demonstrated by the straightforward one‐pot statistical postpolymerization modification of well‐defined poly(2‐isopropenyl‐2‐oxazoline) (PiPOx) by ring‐opening reaction with multiple carboxylic acids. The reactions are carried out using dual, triple, and quadruple mixtures of up to four different aliphatic carboxylic acids. The cloud point temperatures of the resulting polymethacrylamide copolymers with ester pendent groups can be finely tuned by adjusting the feed ratio and the hydrophilic–hydrophobic balance of the acids that are used for the ring‐opening modification of PiPOx. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 360–366     

Radical polyaddition of difunctional vinyloxirane with thiols for synthesis of linear and networked polysulfides

Radical ring‐opening polyaddition of bifunctional vinyloxirane with multifunctional thiols was investigated. The polyaddition proceeded smoothly via the ring‐opening reaction of the oxirane moiety to afford the corresponding networked polymers bearing vinyl ether and sulfide moieties in the main chain. The thermal properties of the networked polymers and volume changes upon the polyaddition were investigated. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018 , 56, 783–788     

Synthesis of networked polymers by crosslinking reactions of polybenzoxazine bearing allyl group in the side chain

A polybenzoxazine bearing allyl group in the side chain was synthesized by the ring‐opening polymerization of N‐allyl‐benzoxazine and was crosslinked by the two different processes, (1) thermally induced oligomerization of the allyl side chains and (2) radical addition of dithiol (thiol‐ene reaction) to the allyl side chains. The former process was promoted by adding 2,5‐dimethyl‐2,5‐di(tert‐butylperoxy)hexane as a radical source, leading to the improved yield of the networked polymer isolated as acetone‐insoluble fraction. The thiol‐ene reaction with using 1,6‐hexanedithiol was also an efficient method for crosslinking the polybenzoxazine. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013     

Association of hydrophobically α,ω‐end‐capped poly(2‐methyl‐2‐oxazoline) in water

The α,ω‐end‐capped poly(2‐methyl‐2‐oxazoline) (C_n‐POXZ‐C_n) have been synthesized by a one‐pot process using cationic ring‐opening polymerization with an appropriate initiator and terminating agent. The polymers bearing different alkyl groups C₁₂ and C₁₈ have molecular weight in the range of 2.4 × 10³ to 14 × 10³ with a small polydispersity index. The solution behavior of the free chains has been analyzed in a nonselective solvent, dichloromethane, by small‐angle neutron scattering and dynamic light scattering. These amphiphilic polymers associate in water to form flower‐like micellar structures. Critical micelle concentrations, investigated by fluorescence technique, are in the range of 0.03–0.5 g L^?1 and are dependent on the hydrophilic/lipophilic balance. The structural properties of the aggregates have also been investigated by viscometry. Intrinsic viscosities of these polymers are in the same range as that of the precursors poly(2‐methyl‐2‐oxazoline) (POXZ) and mono‐functionalized polymers. Large viscosity increase corresponding to intermicellar bridging was observed in the vicinity of the micelle overlap concentration. Addition of hydroxypropyl β‐cyclodextrin (HβCD) has dissociated the aggregates and the intrinsic viscosities of the HβCD‐end‐capped chains have become comparable with the ones of POXZ precursor chains. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 2477–2485, 2010