Polymeric pseudo-crown ether for cation recognition via cation template-assisted cyclopolymerization.
Cyclopolymerization is a chain polymerization of bifunctional monomers via alternating processes of intramolecular cyclization and intermolecular addition, to give soluble linear polymers consisting of in-chain cyclic structures. Though cyclopolymers comprising in-chain multiple large rings potentially show unique functionality, they generally require the elaborate design of bifunctional monomers. Here we report cation template-assisted cyclopolymerization of poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylates as an efficient strategy directly yielding polymeric pseudo-crown ethers with large in-chain cavities (up to 30-membered rings) for selective molecular recognition. The key is to select a size-fit metal cation for the spacer unit of the divinyl monomers to form a pseudo-cyclic conformation, where the two vinyl groups are suitably positioned for intramolecular cyclization. The marriage of supramolecular chemistry and polymer chemistry affords efficient, one-pot chemical transformation from common chemical reagents with simple templates to functional cyclopolymers.
Department of Polymer Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Katsura, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan.
Takaya
T
Terashima
Minami
M
Kawabe
Yuichiro
Y
Miyabara
Hiroaki
H
Yoda
Mitsuo
M
Sawamoto