ATRP of dendronized aliphatic macromonomers of generation one, two, and three

Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of dendritic, aliphatic macromonomers has been investigated. The macromonomers were based on acrylate functionalized 2,2-bis(methylol)propionic acid (bis-MPA) dendrons, with a flexible spacer of 10 carbons incorporated in the structure in between the polymerizable group and the dendritic wedge. Dendronized polymers of generation one, two, and three were successfully synthesized by ATRP. The polymerizations proceeded until over 80% conversion was reached, while maintaining control over polydispersity index (PDI). Plots of ln([M](0)/[M]) vs time for the polymerization of all three macromonomers showed a linear dependence, indicating that the number of propagating radicals in the reaction solution was constant throughout the reaction, when ethyl 2-bromopropionate (EBrP) was used as an initiator (i.e., radical termination was negligible). All of the resulting polymers had low PDI values and molecular weight close to the theoretical ones. The products were analyzed by H-1 and C-13 NMR spectroscopies, size exclusion chromatography (SEC), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF).