Catalytic Self-Threading: A New Route for the Synthesis of Polyrotaxanes

Main chain and branched polyrotaxanes have been synthesized in which polymerization and rotaxane formation occur simultaneously, due to the presence of the catalytically active self-threading macrocycle cucurbit[6]uril. Using monomers that contain stopper groups to prevent the catalytic macrocycle from noncatalytic threading, it was possible to prepare polyrotaxanes in high yields with molecular weights up to 39000. These polyrotaxanes are structurally perfect in the sense that exactly two macrocycles are threaded onto each structural repeat unit. Investigations into the polymerization mechanism have demonstrated that the catalyst cucurbit[6]uril is highly sensitive toward the structure of the monomers employed and a poorly designed monomer may result in complete inactivity. Features of the mechanism are discussed in some detail.