Abstract
Main-chain degradable amphiphilic diblock copolymers composed of a hydrophilic-functionalized polyester and PLA were facilely prepared by one-pot ring-opening polymerization (ROP) via actively manipulating the catalytic states of an acid–base catalytic system. The resultant block copolymers showed low critical micelle concentration (CMC) in water and were capable of forming stable micelles with optimal hydrodynamic particle size (average diameter 83 nm) and narrow particle distribution.
Highlights
Main-chain degradable amphiphilic diblock copolymers composed of a hydrophilic-functionalized polyester and PLA were facilely prepared by one-pot ring-opening polymerization (ROP) via actively manipulating the catalytic states of an acid–base catalytic system
We noticed that Hedrick group recently reported a rather surprising discovery that a equimolar mixture of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]-undec-7-ene (DBU) and benzoic acid (BA) which was usually used in excess to quench activity of DBU at the end of ROP of lactide turned out to be a better catalyst than DBU itself in terms of promoting well controlled ROP of lactide under mild condition.[17]
We envisioned that the equimolar BA/DBU ion pair catalyst could be employed to efficiently prepare well de ned PLA as the rst block subsequently, two equivalents of diphenyl phosphate (DPP) could be added to the reaction mixture to deactivated the BA/DBU ion pair and switch catalytic mode of the catalyst from being “lactide-active” to “lactide-inactive” and “lactone-active”
Summary
Open Access Article. Published on 09 January 2018. Downloaded on 10/5/2020 12:03:17 PM. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. Received 28th November 2017 Accepted 28th December 2017 DOI: 10.1039/c7ra12843f rsc.li/rsc-advances
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