Novel graft copolymer containing a polyallene backbone and poly(tert‐butyl acrylate) side chains

Abstract

A series of novel, well-defined graft copolymers with polyallene-based backbones and poly(tert-butyl acrylate) side chains were synthesized by the combination of the living coordination polymerization of 6-methyl-1,2-heptadiene-4-ol (MHDO) and the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of tert-butyl acrylate. First, a narrowly dispersed poly(alcohol) with polyallene repeating units was synthesized by the living coordination polymerization of MHDO with [(η3-allyl)NiOCOCF3]2 as the initiator, which was followed by the transformation of the pendant hydroxyl groups into ATRP initiation groups. Second, the target graft copolymer, poly(6-methyl-1,2-heptadiene-4-ol)-graft-poly(tert-butyl acrylate), was synthesized by the ATRP of tert-butyl acrylate initiated by the macroinitiator. This kind of graft copolymer is the first example of a graft copolymer via an allene derivative and an acrylate monomer.