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Facile construction of giant polymeric chains through strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition

Polymer Journal volume 55, pages 1129–1139 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Rational design of “giant” building blocks promotes the modular construction of polymeric counterparts at a large length scale. In this study, a series of biscylooctyne- and bisazide-functionalized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) monomers with different regio-configurations were synthesized. Homo and alternating giant polymeric chains were then efficiently prepared by strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC) polymerization. The obtained monomers and polymers were characterized by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), size exclusion chromatography (SEC), and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-ToF) mass spectrometry. The influence of the feeding ratio, monomer concentration, and regio-configuration on the step-growth polymerization was investigated. Due to the large monomer size, the giant chains can be purified and fractionated by preparative SEC. This work provides a facile and efficient approach for the modular construction of main-chain polymers with nanosized building blocks.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22273026, 51773066, and 51890871), the Recruitment Program of Guangdong (2016ZT06C322), the Research Funds from State and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Novel Functional Polymeric Materials, Soochow University (SDGC2109), and the 111 Project (B18023).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Shuai Wang, Gang Li.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. South China Advanced Institute of Soft Matter Science and Technology, School of Emergent Soft Matter, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Shuai Wang, Zhongguo Liu, Ze Yang & Xue-Hui Dong

  2. Department of Ecology and Environment, Yuzhang Normal University, Nanchang, 330103, China

    Gang Li

  3. College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University Suzhou, Suzhou, 215123, China

    Jinlin He

  4. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional and Intelligent Hybrid Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Xue-Hui Dong

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  1. Shuai Wang
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Correspondence to Jinlin He or Xue-Hui Dong.

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Wang, S., Li, G., Liu, Z. et al. Facile construction of giant polymeric chains through strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition. Polym J 55, 1129–1139 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-023-00816-2

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