title: pH responsiveness of dendrimer-like poly(ethylene oxide)s.
abstract: Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), two polymers known to form pH-sensitive aggregates through noncovalent interactions, were assembled in purposely designed architecture -a dendrimer-like PEO scaffold carrying short inner PAA chains-to produce unimolecular systems that exhibit pH responsiveness. Because of the particular placement of the PAA chains within the dendrimer-like structure, intermolecular complexation between acrylic acid (AA) and ethylene oxide (EO) units-and thus macroscopic aggregation or even mesoscopic micellization-could be avoided in favor of the sole intramolecular complexation. The sensitivity of such interactions to pH was exploited to generate dendrimer-like PEOs that reversibly shrink and expand with the pH. Such PAA-carrying dendrimer-like PEOs were synthesized in two main steps. First, a fifth-generation dendrimer-like PEO was obtained by combining anionic ring-opening polymerization (AROP) of ethylene oxide from a tris-hydroxylated core and selective branching reactions of PEO chain ends. To this end, an AB(2)C-type branching agent was designed: the latter includes a chloromethyl (A) group for its covalent attachment to the arm ends, two geminal hydroxyls (B(2)) protected in the form of a ketal ring for the growth of subsequent PEO generations by AROP, and a vinylic (C) double bonds for further functionalization of the interior of dendrimer-like PEOs. Reiteration of AROP and derivatization of PEO branches allowed us to prepare a dendrimer-like PEO of fourth generation with a total molar mass of 52,000 g x mol(-1), containing 24 external hydroxyl functions and 21 inner vinylic groups in the interior. A fifth generation of PEO chains was generated from this parent dendrimer-like PEO of fourth generation using a "conventional" AB(2)-type branching agent, and 48 PEO branches could be grown by AROP. The 48 outer hydroxy-end groups of the fifth-generation dendrimer-like PEO obtained were subsequently quantitatively converted into inert benzylic groups using benzyl bromide. The 21 internal vinylic groups carried by the PEO scaffold were then chemically modified in a two-step sequence into bromoester groups. The latter which are atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) initiating sites thus served to grow poly(tert-butylacrylate) chains. After a final step of hydrolysis of the tert-butyl ester groups, double, hydrophilic, dendrimer-like PEOs comprising 21 internal junction-attached poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) blocks could be obtained. Dynamic light scattering was used to determine the size of these dendrimer-like species in water and to investigate their response to pH variation: in particular, how the pH-sensitive complexation of EO and AA units affects their overall behavior.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie et Physique de Bordeaux-Université Bordeaux-1-CNRS 16, Avenue Pey Berland, 33607 Pessac Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Xiaoshuang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Taton
authors.forename: Redouane
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Borsali
authors.forename: Elliot L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Chaikof
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gnanou
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins / Q000737:chemistry*; D050091:Dendrimers / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D050091:Dendrimers; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; C006903:carbopol 940