A UV-Cleavable Bottlebrush Polymer with o-Nitrobenzyl-Linked Side Chains.
An ultraviolet (UV)-cleavable bottlebrush polymer is synthesized using the "grafting-onto" strategy by combining living radical polymerization and copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC). In this approach, reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization is used to prepare a poly(methylacrylate) backbone with azide side groups, while atom transfer radical polymerization is employed to prepare polystyrene (PS) side chains end-functionalized with o-nitrobenzyl (UV-cleavable) propargyl groups. CuAAC is then used to graft PS side chains onto the polymer backbone, producing the corresponding bottlebrush polymers with UV-cleavable PS side chains. The formation of the bottlebrush polymer is characterized by1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The cleavage behavior of the bottlebrush polymer is monitored in tetrahydrofuran solution under UV irradiation by GPC and viscosity measurements.
State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
Wen
W
Zhu
State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
Liangcai
L
Zhang
Key Laboratory for Polymeric Composite and Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China.
Yongming
Y
Chen
State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
Ke
K
Zhang
D001386:Azides / Q000737:chemistry; D057930:Click Chemistry; D061565:Cycloaddition Reaction; D005663:Furans / Q000737:chemistry; D009579:Nitrobenzoates / Q000737:chemistry*; D058105:Polymerization / Q000528:radiation effects*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
D001386:Azides; D005663:Furans; D009579:Nitrobenzoates; D011108:Polymers; C018674:tetrahydrofuran
UV-cleavage; bottlebrush polymer; copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition; living polymerization technique; o-nitrobenzyl derivative