Precise Synthesis of Tetrablock Copolymers of Different Acrylamide Derivatives via Iterative Aqueous Cu(0)-Mediated Polymerization

Abstract

The accessibility of specific synthesis of tetrablock copolymers is reported. In a specific synthesis, four acrylamide monomers are gradually added using an iterative aqueous Cu(0)-mediated reversible-deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) method. Essential to the success of this approach is the ability to design and polymerize ABCD copolymer sequence with no need for immediate purification steps. The simple in-situ sequential polymerization method allowed for essentially perfect control of accurately well-defined tetrablock copolymers, which are composed of four tiny blocks, each of which contains an average of ten functional monomer units of acrylamide derivatives, resulting in a variety of functional groups. While the final molecular weight distributions have very narrow despersities (Đ < 1.10), the efficient successive chain extension polymerization proceeded with high monomer conversions (>99%), delivering excellent block purification in a short period of time. The tetrablock poly(NIPAM-DMA-HEAA-DEA) was characterized by NMR and GPC and showed beneficial end-group fidelity, allowing quantitative monitoring of the system’s alive nature after each synthetic cycle. Importantly, these one-pot syntheses are carried out at a below temperature of 0.0 °C in water as the solvent and can be implemented for applications of molecular biology. We also investigate the potential for a copper-amide complex to develop with acrylamide monomer, which could have an adverse effect on the end group’s functioning. Finally, we believe that this approach makes it easier to create a novel category of advanced polymeric materials.