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ABSTRACT Well-defined amphiphilic A8B4 miktoarm star copolymers with eight poly(ethylene glycol) chains and four poly(ε-caprolactone) arms (R-8PEG-4PCL) were prepared using 'click' reaction strategy and controlled ring-opening polymerization (CROP). First, multi-functional precursor (R-8N3-4OH) with eight azides and four hydroxyls was synthesized based on the derivatization of resorcinarene. Then eight-PEG-arm star polymer (R-8PEG-4OH) was prepared through 'click' reaction of R-8N3-4OH with pre-synthesized alkyne-terminated monomethyl PEG (mPEG-A) in the presence of CuBr/ N, N, N′, N″, N″′- pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) in DMF. Finally, R-8PEG-4OH was used as tetrafunctional macroinitiator to prepare resorcinarene-centered A8B4 miktoarm star copolymers via CROP of ε-caprolactone utilizing Sn(Oct)2 as catalyst at 100 °C. These miktoarm star copolymers could self-assemble into spherical micelles in aqueous solution with resorcinarene moieties on the hydrophobic/hydrophilic interface, and the particle sizes could be controlled by the ratio of PCL to PEG. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 2824-2833. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which developed a novel crosslinked hydrophilic polymer with calix[4]arene units, which can extract organic molecules from aqueous solution and gas phase. The calix[4]arene-poly(ethylene glycol) crosslinked polymer (CCP) was synthesized by the polycondensation reaction between a p-tert-butylcalix[4]-arene derivative and dihydroxyl capped poly(ethylene glycol) (DHPEG, Mn 5 1000) catalyzed by neodymium tosylate.