Structure characterization of hyperbranched poly(ether amide)s. I. Preparative fractionation

Polyolefins Formed by Chain Walking Catalysis-A Matter of Branching Density Only?

Recently developed chain walking (CW) catalysis is an elegant approach to produce materials with controllable structure and properties. However, there is still a lack in understanding of how the reaction mechanism influences the macromolecular structures. In this study, a series of dendritic polyethylenes (PE) synthesized by Pd-α-diimine-complex through CW catalysis (CWPE) is investigated by means of theory and experiment. Thereby, the exceptional ability of in situ tailoring polymer structure by varying synthesis parameters was exploited to tune the branching architecture, which allowed us to establish a precise relationship between synthesis, structure, and solution properties. The systematically produced polymers were characterized by state-of-the-art multidetector separation and neutron scattering experiments as well as atomic force microscopy to access molecular properties of CWPE. On a global scale, the CWPE appear in a worm-like conformation independently on the synthesis conditions. However, severe differences in their contraction factors suggested that CWPE differ substantially in topology. These observations were verified by NMR studies that showed that CWPE possess a constant total number of branches but varying branching distribution. Small angle neutron scattering experiments gave access to structural characteristics from global to segmental scale and revealed the unique heterogeneity of CWPE, which is predominantly based on differences in their dendritic side chains. The experimental data were compared to theoretical CW structures modeled with different reaction-to-walking probabilities. Simple theoretical arguments predict a crossover from dendritic to linear topologies yielding a structural range from purely linear to dendritic chain growth. Yet, comparison of theoretical and empirical scattering curves gave the first evidence that a transition state to worm-like topologies is actually experimentally accessible. This crossover regime is characterized by linear global features and dendritic local substructures contrary to randomly hyperbranched systems. Instead, the obtained CWPE systems have characteristics of disordered dendritic bottle brushes and can be adjusted by the walking rate/reaction probability of the catalyst.

Fully-branched hyperbranched polymers with a diselenide core as glutathione peroxidase mimics

A novel glutathione peroxidase (GPx) mimic has been prepared by incorporation of a selenium-based catalytic unit into the focal point of a fully-branched hyperbranched polymer. First, an AB(2) monomer consisting of isatin and an electron rich aromatic moiety was polycondensed in the presence of 5-nitroisatin as a core reagent, resulting in a polymer with 100% degree of branching. The latter was coupled to the catalytically active moiety, Br(CH(2))(5) SeSe(CH(2))(5) Br, by nucleophilic substitution of the bromides by the residual amide groups of the incorporated nitroisatin core. The obtained polymer has demonstrated prominent GPx activity as desired, which could be attributed to the hydrophobic, densely branched and core-shell structure of the polymer surrounding the catalytic center.

Immobilization of a hyperbranched polyester via grafting-to and electron beam irradiation

Stable thin films of an aromatic-aliphatic hyperbranched polyester with hydroxyl groups were fabricated on silicon substrates using electron beam irradiation and a grafting-to approach. We present a detailed study on the influence of the dose, dose rate, and temperature on the film properties and degradation behavior of the polyester immobilized by electron beam irradiation. A patterned polyester film was prepared on the substrate using a masking technique. In the second part of this work, we report on a method for the strong binding of the hyperbranched polyester onto the surface of an "activated" silicon substrate without using any coupling agent. The results are compared with the grafting-to of the hydroxyl-terminated polyester using thin PGMA anchoring layers ( Reichelt et al. Macromol. Symp. 2007, 254, 240- 247 ). The optimal conditions and mechanism of the anchoring procedures were investigated. The surface and film properties of all immobilized polymer films were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electrokinetic measurements, contact-angle measurements by drop-shape analysis, spectroscopic and imaging ellipsometry, and infrared spectroscopy. It is shown that all immobilization methods can be optimized in such a way that the polymer surface properties remain unchanged compared to those of nongrafted polyesters.