Radical Copolymerization Reactivity of N-Substituted Maleimides with α-Substituted Styrenes with Various N- and α-Substituents and the Thermal and Optical Properties of the Resulting Copolymers

Styrene-Maleimide/Maleic Anhydride Alternating Copolymers: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives

Alternating sequencing of styrene-maleimide/maleic anhydride (S-MI/MA) in the copolymer chain is known for a long time. But since early 2000, this class of copolymers has been extensively studied using various living/controlled polymerization techniques to design S-MI/MA alternating copolymers with tunable molecular weight, narrow dispersity (Ð), and precise chain-end functionality. The widespread diverse applications of this polymeric backbone are due to its ease of synthesis, cheap starting materials, high precision in alternating sequencing, and facile post-polymerization functionalization with simple organic reactions. Recently, S-MI/MA alternating copolymers have been rediscovered as novel polymers with unprecedented emissive behavior. It outperforms the traditional fluorophores with no aggregation caused quenching (ACQ), aqueous solubility, and greater cell viability. Herein, the origin of alternating sequence, synthesis, and recent (2010-Present) developments in applications of these polymers in different fields are elaborately discussed, including the advantages of the unconventional luminogenic property. This review article also highlights the future research directions of the versatile S-MI/MA copolymers.

Color change of alternating copolymers with phenyl vinylethylene carbonate and N-phenylmaleimide in a solution and in the solid-state, depending on their structure

The alternating PVEC and PMI copolymers with various composition ratios exhibited reversible color changes such as halochromism in solution and in the solid-state.

Alternating copolymerization by nitroxide-mediated polymerization and subsequent orthogonal functionalization

A novel method for the preparation of functionalized alternating copolymers is presented. Nitroxide-mediated polymerization of hexafluoroisopropyl acrylate with 7-octenyl vinyl ether provides the corresponding alternating polymer, which can be chemically modified using two orthogonal polymer-analogous reactions. A thiol-ene click reaction followed by amidation provides dual-functionalized alternating copolymers. The potential of this method is illustrated by the preparation of a small library (15 examples) of functionalized alternating copolymers.