Synthesis of a heterotelechelic helical poly(methacrylamide) and its incorporation into a supramolecular triblock copolymer. Issue 37 (27th August 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Deng, Ru; Milton, Margarita; Pomarico, Scott K.; Weck, Marcus
• Is Part Of: Polymer chemistry. Volume 10:Issue 37(2019)
• Page Start: 5087
• Page End: 5093
• Publication Date: 2019-08-27
• Subjects: Polymers -- Periodicals; Macromolecules -- Periodicals; Polymerization -- Periodicals; 547.705
• DOI: 10.1039/c9py01047e
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1759-9954

Abstract

Abstract : A heterotelechelic helical polymer made through a combination of RAFT polymerization and thiol–bromo "click" reaction and its assembly into coil–helix–helix triblock copolymers is presented. Abstract : We report the first heterotelechelic helical poly(methacrylamide) (PMAc) bearing orthogonal supramolecular binding sites on its chain-ends synthesized through a combination of reversible addition–fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization and thiol–bromo "click" chemistry. The heterotelechelic PMAc was assembled with two monotelechelic polymers featuring different secondary structures, namely a coil-like poly(styrene) and a helical poly(isocyanide), resulting in the formation of a coil–helix–helix supramolecular triblock copolymer through orthogonal metal coordination and hydrogen bonding interactions. Triblock assembly was confirmed through 1 H NMR spectroscopy, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and viscometry. The individual polymer blocks retained their secondary structures in the final triblock copolymer, as evidenced by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Our synthetic strategy expands the toolbox of triblock copolymers featuring structural motifs similar to the ones found in proteins and provides the potential for the development of other complex multifunctional polymeric ensembles.