A trefoil knotted polymer produced through ring expansion.
A synthetic strategy is reported for the production of a trefoil knotted polymer from a copper(I)-templated helical knot precursor through ring expansion. The expected changes in the properties of the knotted polymer compared to a linear analogue, for example, reduced hydrodynamic radius and lower intrinsic viscosity, together with an atomic force microscopy (AFM) image of individual molecular knots, confirmed the formation of the resulting trefoil knotted polymer. The strategies employed here could be utilized to enrich the variety of available polymers with new architectures.
Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106 (USA).
Peng-Fei
PF
Cao
Joey
J
Mangadlao
Rigoberto
R
Advincula
D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D014783:Viscosity
D011108:Polymers; D003300:Copper
copper(I); knotted polymers; ring expansion; supramolecular chemistry; templated complexes