| Abstract: | A new biodegradable starch graft copolymer, starch‐g‐poly(1,4‐dioxan‐2‐one), was synthesized through the ring‐opening graft polymerization of 1,4‐dioxan‐2‐one onto a starch backbone. The grafting reactions were conducted with various 1,4‐dioxan‐2‐one/starch feed ratios to obtain starch‐g‐poly(1,4‐dioxan‐2‐one) copolymers with various poly(1,4‐dioxan‐2‐one) graft structures. The microstructure of starch‐g‐poly(1,4‐dioxan‐2‐one) was characterized in detail with one‐ and two‐dimensional NMR spectroscopy. The effect of the feed composition on the resulting microstructure of starch‐g‐poly(1,4‐dioxan‐2‐one) was investigated. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 3417–3422, 2004 |
