A Rare Example of the Formation of Polystyrene-Grafted Aliphatic Polyester in One-Pot by Radical Polymerization

Title data

Shi, Yinfeng ; Zheng, Zhicheng ; Agarwal, Seema:
A Rare Example of the Formation of Polystyrene-Grafted Aliphatic Polyester in One-Pot by Radical Polymerization.
In: Chemistry : a European Journal. Vol. 20 (2014) Issue 24 . - pp. 7419-7428.
ISSN 1521-3765
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201400238

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Abstract in another language

The radical copolymerization of cyclic ester beta-propiolactone (beta-PL) with styrene (St) at 120 degrees C, with a complete range of monomer ratios, is a rare example of a system providing graft copolymers (PSt-g-beta-PL) in one pot. The structure of the resulting beta-PL-St copolymers was proven by using a combination of different characterization techniques, such as 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography (GPC), before and after alkaline hydrolysis of the polymers. The number of grafting points increased with an increasing amount of beta-PL in the feed. A significant difference in the reactivity of St and beta-PL and radical chain-transfer reactions at the polystyrene (PSt) backbone, followed by combination with the active growing poly(beta-PL) chains, led to the formation of graft copolymers by a grafting-onto mechanism.