Tunable pH- and temperature-sensitive copolymer libraries by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer copolymerizations of methacrylates

Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerizations have been performed on a Chemspeed Accelerator SLT100 automated synthesizer to polymerize N,N-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMA) at 70 degrees C. Azobis(isobutyronitrile) (AIBN) was used as source of radicals and 2-cyano-2-butyl dithiobenzoate (CBDB) as RAFT agent. A complete screening in composition of P(DMAEMA-stat-PEGMA) copolymers was elaborated from 0% of PEGMA to 100% of PEGMA. All polydispersity indices of the obtained copolymers are comprised between 1.11 and 1.30. The reactivity ratios have been determined by the extended Kelen-TUdos method (r(DMAEMA) = 0.93 and r(PEGMA) = 0.66). The behavior of the pH- and temperature-sensitive copolymers was studied in aqueous solution by measuring the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) by UV/vis spectroscopy. The measurements were performed at three different pH values (4, 7, and 10). At pH 7 and pH 10 it has been observed that the LCST is increasing linearly with the wt % PEGMA in the copolymer feed. On the contrary, at pH 4, the hydrophilicity of the P(DMAEMA-stat-PEGMA) copolymers is too high due to the protonation of the DMAEMA units. Thus, no LCST has been detected for most of them. By varying the pH and the composition of the P(DMAEMA-stat-PEGMA) copolymers, the LCST can be easily tuned between 34.7 and 82.0 degrees C.