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Murphy E, Zhang C, Bates CM, Hawker CJ. Chromatographic Separation: A Versatile Strategy to Prepare Discrete and Well-Defined Polymer Libraries. Acc Chem Res 2024; 57:1202-1213. [PMID: 38530881 PMCID: PMC11025024 DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.4c00059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2024] [Revised: 03/06/2024] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024]
Abstract
ConspectusThe preparation of discrete and well-defined polymers is an emerging strategy for emulating the remarkable precision achieved by macromolecular synthesis in nature. Although modern controlled polymerization techniques have unlocked access to a cornucopia of materials spanning a broad range of monomers, molecular weights, and architectures, the word "controlled" is not to be confused with "perfect". Indeed, even the highest-fidelity polymerization techniques─yielding molar mass dispersities in the vicinity of Đ = 1.05─unavoidably create a considerable degree of structural and/or compositional dispersity due to the statistical nature of chain growth. Such dispersity impacts many of the properties that researchers seek to control in the design of soft materials.The development of strategies to minimize or entirely eliminate dispersity and access molecularly precise polymers therefore remains a key contemporary challenge. While significant advances have been made in the realm of iterative synthetic methods that construct oligomers with an exact molecular weight, head-to-tail connectivity, and even stereochemistry via small-molecule organic chemistry, as the word "iterative" suggests, these techniques involve manually propagating monomers one reaction at a time, often with intervening protection and deprotection steps. As a result, these strategies are time-consuming, difficult to scale, and remain limited to lower molecular weights. The focus of this Account is on an alternative strategy that is more accessible to the general scientific community because of its simplicity, versatility, and affordability: chromatography. Researchers unfamiliar with the intricacies of synthesis may recall being exposed to chromatography in an undergraduate chemistry lab. This operationally simple, yet remarkably powerful, technique is most commonly encountered in the purification of small molecules through their selective (differential) adsorption to a column packed with a low-cost stationary phase, usually silica. Because the requisite equipment is readily available and the actual separation takes little time (on the order of 1 h), chromatography is used extensively in small-molecule chemistry throughout industry and academia alike. It is, therefore, perhaps surprising that similar types of chromatography are not more widely leveraged in the field of polymer science as well.Here, we discuss recent advances in using chromatography to control the structure and properties of polymeric materials. Emphasis is placed on the utility of an adsorption-based mechanism that separates polymers based on polarity and composition at tractable (gram) scales for materials science, in contrast to size exclusion, which is extremely common but typically analyzes very small quantities of a sample (∼1 mg) and is limited to separating by molar mass. Key concepts that are highlighted include (1) the separation of low-molecular-weight homopolymers into discrete oligomers (Đ = 1.0) with precise chain lengths and (2) the efficient fractionation of block copolymers into high-quality and widely varied libraries for accelerating materials discovery. In summary, the authors hope to convey the exciting possibilities in polymer science afforded by chromatography as a scalable, versatile, and even automated technique that unlocks new avenues of exploration into well-defined materials for a diverse assortment of researchers with different training and expertise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth
A. Murphy
- Materials
Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Department of Chemical
Engineering, andMaterials Department, University of California
Santa Barbara, Santa
Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Cheng Zhang
- Materials
Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Department of Chemical
Engineering, andMaterials Department, University of California
Santa Barbara, Santa
Barbara, California 93106, United States
- Australian
Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and Centre for Advanced
Imaging University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Christopher M. Bates
- Materials
Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Department of Chemical
Engineering, andMaterials Department, University of California
Santa Barbara, Santa
Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Craig J. Hawker
- Materials
Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Department of Chemical
Engineering, andMaterials Department, University of California
Santa Barbara, Santa
Barbara, California 93106, United States
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Chu B, Jia S, Li T, Zhu J. Rh(III)-catalyzed synthesis of amino-side-chained poly(phenylene vinylene) via C-H bond olefination. Chem Commun (Camb) 2023; 59:2946-2949. [PMID: 36799453 DOI: 10.1039/d3cc00087g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/11/2023]
Abstract
A Rh(III)-catalyzed hydrazine-directed C-H olefination approach was developed for synthesizing amino-side-chained poly(phenylene vinylene) (PPV). The creation of such a divergent portfolio of PPV candidates enabled the discovery of a mega Stokes shift, high fluorescence quantum yield, and solid-state fluorescence, highlighting the great prospects of our synthetic protocol as an innovative tool.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benfa Chu
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
| | - Shuqi Jia
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
| | - Tielei Li
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
| | - Jin Zhu
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
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Murphy EA, Chen YQ, Albanese K, Blankenship JR, Abdilla A, Bates MW, Zhang C, Bates CM, Hawker CJ. Efficient Creation and Morphological Analysis of ABC Triblock Terpolymer Libraries. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A. Murphy
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
| | - Yan-Qiao Chen
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
| | - Kaitlin Albanese
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
| | - Jacob R. Blankenship
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
| | - Allison Abdilla
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
| | - Morgan W. Bates
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
| | - Cheng Zhang
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
- Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland4072, Australia
| | - Christopher M. Bates
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
- Department of Chemical Engineering, and University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
| | - Craig J. Hawker
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California93106, United States
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Hakobyan K, Xu J, Müllner M. The challenges of controlling polymer synthesis at the molecular and macromolecular level. Polym Chem 2022. [DOI: 10.1039/d1py01581h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
In this Perspective, we outline advances and challenges in controlling the structure of polymers at various size regimes in the context of structural features such as molecular weight distribution, end groups, architecture, composition and sequence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Hakobyan
- Key Centre for Polymers and Colloids, School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
- The University of Sydney Nano Institute (Sydney Nano), Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
- School of Chemical Engineering, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Jiangtao Xu
- School of Chemical Engineering, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Markus Müllner
- Key Centre for Polymers and Colloids, School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
- The University of Sydney Nano Institute (Sydney Nano), Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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Wyers D, Goris T, De Smet Y, Junkers T. Amino acid acrylamide mimics: creation of a consistent monomer library and characterization of their polymerization behaviour. Polym Chem 2021. [DOI: 10.1039/d1py00735a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
A novel consistent approach to mimic the structure of biopolymers via precision polymer synthesis with reversible deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP).
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Affiliation(s)
- Dries Wyers
- Polymer Reaction Design Group, School of Chemistry, Monash University, 19 Rainforest Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Toon Goris
- Polymer Reaction Design Group, School of Chemistry, Monash University, 19 Rainforest Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Yana De Smet
- Polymer Reaction Design Group, School of Chemistry, Monash University, 19 Rainforest Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Tanja Junkers
- Polymer Reaction Design Group, School of Chemistry, Monash University, 19 Rainforest Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
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Koo MB, Lee SW, Lee JM, Kim KT. Iterative Convergent Synthesis of Large Cyclic Polymers and Block Copolymers with Discrete Molecular Weights. J Am Chem Soc 2020; 142:14028-14032. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c04202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mo Beom Koo
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
| | - Seul Woo Lee
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
| | - Jung Min Lee
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
| | - Kyoung Taek Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
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Junkers T, Vrijsen JH. Designing molecular weight distributions of arbitrary shape with selectable average molecular weight and dispersity. Eur Polym J 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2020.109834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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Báez JE, Shea KJ, Dennison PR, Obregón-Herrera A, Bonilla-Cruz J. Monodisperse oligo(δ-valerolactones) and oligo(ε-caprolactones) with docosyl (C22) end-groups. Polym Chem 2020. [DOI: 10.1039/d0py00576b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Two different families of monodisperse oligoesters with α-hydroxyl-ω-docosyl (C22) terminal groups [oligo(δ-valerolactone) and oligo(ϵ-caprolactone)] were isolated by flash column chromatography (FCC).
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Affiliation(s)
- José E. Báez
- Department of Chemistry
- Division of Natural and Exact Sciences
- University of Guanajuato (UG)
- Guanajuato
- Gto. Mexico
| | - Kenneth J. Shea
- Department of Chemistry
- University of California
- Irvine
- Irvine
- 92697-2025
| | | | - Armando Obregón-Herrera
- Department of Biology
- Division of Natural and Exact Sciences
- University of Guanajuato (UG)
- Guanajuato
- Gto. Mexico
| | - José Bonilla-Cruz
- Centro de Investigación en Materiales Avanzados S.C. (CIMAV-Unidad Monterrey)
- Apodaca
- 66628 Mexico
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Xu J. Single Unit Monomer Insertion: A Versatile Platform for Molecular Engineering through Radical Addition Reactions and Polymerization. Macromolecules 2019. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.9b01365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jiangtao Xu
- Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design and Australian Centre for NanoMedicine, School of Chemical Engineering, UNSW, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
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Whitfield R, Truong NP, Messmer D, Parkatzidis K, Rolland M, Anastasaki A. Tailoring polymer dispersity and shape of molecular weight distributions: methods and applications. Chem Sci 2019; 10:8724-8734. [PMID: 33552458 PMCID: PMC7844732 DOI: 10.1039/c9sc03546j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2019] [Accepted: 08/27/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The width and shape of molecular weight distributions can significantly affect the properties of polymeric materials and thus are key parameters to control. This mini-review aims to critically summarise recent approaches developed to tailor molecular weight distributions and highlights the strengths and limitations of each technique. Special emphasis will also be given to applications where tuning the molecular weight distribution has been used as a strategy to not only enhance polymer properties but also to increase the fundamental understanding behind complex mechanisms and phenomena.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Whitfield
- Laboratory of Polymeric Materials , Department of Materials , ETH Zurich , Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5 , Zurich 8093 , Switzerland .
| | - Nghia P Truong
- Laboratory of Polymeric Materials , Department of Materials , ETH Zurich , Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5 , Zurich 8093 , Switzerland .
| | - Daniel Messmer
- Laboratory of Polymeric Materials , Department of Materials , ETH Zurich , Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5 , Zurich 8093 , Switzerland .
| | - Kostas Parkatzidis
- Laboratory of Polymeric Materials , Department of Materials , ETH Zurich , Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5 , Zurich 8093 , Switzerland .
| | - Manon Rolland
- Laboratory of Polymeric Materials , Department of Materials , ETH Zurich , Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5 , Zurich 8093 , Switzerland .
| | - Athina Anastasaki
- Laboratory of Polymeric Materials , Department of Materials , ETH Zurich , Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5 , Zurich 8093 , Switzerland .
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De Neve J, Haven JJ, Harrisson S, Junkers T. Deconstructing Oligomer Distributions: Discrete Species and Artificial Distributions. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2019; 58:13869-13873. [DOI: 10.1002/anie.201906842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jeroen De Neve
- Polymer Reaction Design GroupSchool of ChemistryMonash University 19 Rainforest Walk, Building 23 Clayton VIC 3800 Australia
- Institute for Materials ResearchHasselt University Martelarenlaan 42 3500 Hasselt Belgium
| | - Joris J. Haven
- Polymer Reaction Design GroupSchool of ChemistryMonash University 19 Rainforest Walk, Building 23 Clayton VIC 3800 Australia
| | - Simon Harrisson
- Laboratoire des IMRCP, CNRS UMR 5623University of Toulouse 118 Route de Narbonne 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9 France
| | - Tanja Junkers
- Polymer Reaction Design GroupSchool of ChemistryMonash University 19 Rainforest Walk, Building 23 Clayton VIC 3800 Australia
- Institute for Materials ResearchHasselt University Martelarenlaan 42 3500 Hasselt Belgium
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12
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De Neve J, Haven JJ, Harrisson S, Junkers T. Deconstructing Oligomer Distributions: Discrete Species and Artificial Distributions. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.201906842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jeroen De Neve
- Polymer Reaction Design GroupSchool of ChemistryMonash University 19 Rainforest Walk, Building 23 Clayton VIC 3800 Australia
- Institute for Materials ResearchHasselt University Martelarenlaan 42 3500 Hasselt Belgium
| | - Joris J. Haven
- Polymer Reaction Design GroupSchool of ChemistryMonash University 19 Rainforest Walk, Building 23 Clayton VIC 3800 Australia
| | - Simon Harrisson
- Laboratoire des IMRCP, CNRS UMR 5623University of Toulouse 118 Route de Narbonne 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9 France
| | - Tanja Junkers
- Polymer Reaction Design GroupSchool of ChemistryMonash University 19 Rainforest Walk, Building 23 Clayton VIC 3800 Australia
- Institute for Materials ResearchHasselt University Martelarenlaan 42 3500 Hasselt Belgium
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13
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Haven JJ, De Neve J, Castro Villavicencio A, Junkers T. Elucidation of the properties of discrete oligo(meth)acrylates. Polym Chem 2019. [DOI: 10.1039/c9py01494b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Discrete (monodisperse) methyl methacrylate (MMA) and di(ethylene glycol) ethyl ether acrylate (DEGEEA) oligomer libraries are generated via a 2-step process of RAFT polymerization and chromatographic separation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joris J. Haven
- Polymer Reaction Design Group
- School of Chemistry
- Monash University
- Clayton
- Australia
| | - Jeroen De Neve
- Polymer Reaction Design Group
- School of Chemistry
- Monash University
- Clayton
- Australia
| | | | - Tanja Junkers
- Polymer Reaction Design Group
- School of Chemistry
- Monash University
- Clayton
- Australia
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