Degradable Linear and Bottlebrush Thioester-Functional Copolymers through Atom-Transfer Radical Ring-Opening Copolymerization of a Thionolactone

Qamar Un Nisa, William Theobald, Kyle S. Hepburn, Ian Riddlestone, Nathaniel M. Bingham, Maciej Kopeć, Peter J. Roth

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Polymers with tailored architectures and degradability were prepared through thiocarbonyl addition ring-opening (TARO) atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using dibenzo[c,e]oxepin-5(7H)-thione (DOT), Cu(I)Br, and tris[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]amine (Me6TREN) as the thionolactone, catalyst, and ligand, respectively, in combination with a selection of acrylic comonomers. Although copolymers with selectively degradable backbone thioesters and low dispersities (1.10 ≤ D ≤ 1.26) were achieved using DMSO, acetonitrile, or toluene as the solvent, the Cu(I)-catalyzed dethionation of DOT to its (oxo)lactone analogue limited the achievable copolymer DOT content. Using anhydrous polymerization conditions minimized the side reaction and provided degradable copolymers with a higher (≤32 mol %) thioester content. Water-soluble molecular brushes were prepared by grafting poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether acrylate-DOT copolymers from a pre-made multi-ATRP initiator. Due to copolymerization kinetics, the thioesters were installed close to the junctions and enabled the fast (<1 min) cleavage of the arms from the core to give water-soluble products using 10 mM oxone.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7392-7400
Number of pages9
JournalMacromolecules
Volume55
Issue number17
Early online date25 Aug 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Sept 2022

Bibliographical note

No funders were acknowledged.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Organic Chemistry
  • Polymers and Plastics
  • Inorganic Chemistry
  • Materials Chemistry

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