Liquid Adsorption Chromatography Separation of Star Poly(methyl methacrylate)s

Abstract

AbstractLiquid adsorption chromatography, in combination with full adsorption–desorption and precipitation–redissolution techniques, is a powerful procedure for the fractionation of mixtures in the synthesis of star polymers. An easy separation of 4‐ and 6‐arm star poly(methyl methacrylate)s from their single arm precursors could be carried out by both procedures, with differences of separation efficiency also depending on the molecular weight of the precursor and the number of arms.Size exclusion chromatograms of retained and eluted fractions obtained by liquid adsorption chromatography/full adsorption–desorption separation with a tetrahydrofuran/cyclohexane eluent system (53:47 wt.‐%) for a crude reaction mixture (dotted line) containing a 4‐arm star PMMA polymer and a single‐arm precursor (solid lines a and b, respectively).magnified imageSize exclusion chromatograms of retained and eluted fractions obtained by liquid adsorption chromatography/full adsorption–desorption separation with a tetrahydrofuran/cyclohexane eluent system (53:47 wt.‐%) for a crude reaction mixture (dotted line) containing a 4‐arm star PMMA polymer and a single‐arm precursor (solid lines a and b, respectively).