1. Converting Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) into a Triple-Responsive Polymer
- Author
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Holger Schmalz, Franziska Eger, Christian Hils, Emma Fuchs, Judith Schöbel, and Macromolecular Chemistry & New Polymeric Materials
- Subjects
Multiresponsive Polymers ,Radical polymerization ,pH-sensitive polymers ,010402 general chemistry ,01 natural sciences ,Lower critical solution temperature ,Catalysis ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,pH-responsive polymers ,Upper critical solution temperature ,Methacrylamide ,switchable surface hydrophilicity ,Methyl methacrylate ,chemistry.chemical_classification ,polymer analogous modification ,010405 organic chemistry ,Chemistry ,Communication ,Organic Chemistry ,General Chemistry ,Polymer ,Poly(methyl methacrylate) ,Communications ,0104 chemical sciences ,Chemical engineering ,visual_art ,visual_art.visual_art_medium ,temperature-responsive polymers - Abstract
Multiresponsive polymers that can respond to several external stimuli are promising materials for a manifold of applications. Herein, a facile method for the synthesis of triple‐responsive (pH, temperature, CO2) poly(N,N‐diethylaminoethyl methacrylamide) by a post‐polymerization amidation of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is presented. Combined with trivalent counterions ([Fe(CN)6]3−) both an upper and lower critical solution temperature (UCST/LCST)‐type phase behavior can be realized at pH 8 and 9. PMMA and PMMA‐based block copolymers are readily accessible by living anionic and controlled radical polymerization techniques, which opens access to various responsive polymer architectures based on the developed functionalization method. This method can also be applied on melt‐processed bulk PMMA samples to introduce functional, responsive moieties at the PMMA surface., Making PMMA responsive: PMMA can be converted into a triple‐responsive polymer, being responsive to temperature, pH and CO2 gas, by a quantitative post‐polymerization amidation with N,N‐diethylethylenediamine. This will open access to a large variety of responsive macromolecular architectures, because this method can be applied to PMMA and PMMA‐based block copolymers, being easily accessible by living anionic or controlled radical polymerization (see scheme).
- Published
- 2020