Supramacromolecular self‐assembly: Chain extension,star and block polymers via pseudorotaxane formation from well‐defined end‐functionalized polymers

Dibenzo‐24‐crown‐8‐terminated polystyrene ( 5 ) was chain extended to “dimeric” 8 by pseudorotaxane formation with a ditopic guest, α,ω‐bisp‐(N‐benzylammoniomethyl)phenoxy]heptane bis(hexafluorophosphate) ( 7 ). The three‐armed star polymer 11 was similarly formed by complexation of the dibenzo‐24‐crown‐8‐terminated polystyrene ( 5 ) with a tritopic secondary ammonium salt, 1,3,5‐trisp‐(benzylammoniomethyl)phenyl]benzene tris(hexafluorophosphate) ( 10 ). Another three‐armed star polymer 13 was self‐assembled from dibenzo‐24‐crown‐8‐terminated polystyrene ( 5 ) and a tetratopic paraquat compound, 1,2,4,5‐tetrakis{p‐N‐(N′‐methyl‐4,4′‐bipyridinium)methylphenyl]}benzene octakis(hexafluorophosphate) ( 12 ). The above chain extension and star polymer formation processes seemed to be cooperative; that is, the second and third complexation steps proceed with stepwise higher efficiencies than statistically expected. Dibenzo‐24‐crown‐8‐terminated polystyrene ( 5 ) was chain extended with secondary ammonium terminated polystyrene 14 , forming 16 , and also self‐assembled with a secondary ammonium ion terminated polyisoprene 15 to form supramolecular block copolymer 17 . These processes were examined by NMR, mass spectrometry and viscometery. Thus, although binding in these systems is not particularly strong (association constants <10⁴ M^?1), these examples provide proof‐of‐principle that pseudorotaxane formation is a viable concept for chain extension and self‐assembly of novel types of block copolymers and star polymers. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 3518–3543, 2009