Preparation of Tadpole-Shaped Amphiphilic Cyclic PS-b-linear PEO via ATRP and Click Chemistry

Amphiphilic tadpole-shaped copolymers consisting of a polystyrene (PS) ring and a poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) tail were synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and click chemistry. First, PEO with a propargyl group and an ATRP initiating group was prepared via click chemistry and esterification. Then, a diblock copolymer, PEO-b-PS, which contained a pi opargyl group at the junction point and an azide group at the PS chain end, was prepared via ATRP of styrene, followed by transformation of the PS bromo end to an azide group. Finally, cyclization of the PS segment via click chemistry in dilute solution led to the formation of cyclic PS-b-linear PEO (c-PS-b-PEO). Because both the chain length of PEO and the ring size of cyclic PS can be easily tuned, a series of c-PS-b-PEOs was prepared. All of the polymers were characterized with gel permeation chromatography, NMR spectroscopy, FTIR, and matrix-assisted laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). c-PS-b-PEOs showed smaller hydrodynamic volumes compared with their linear precursors. Self-assembly of one c-PS-b-PEO sample and its linear precursor in water was preliminarily investigated by transmission electron microscopy. We found that vesicles were the main morphologies for both polymers, but they were different in size; those from c-PS-b-PEO were much larger.