Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry, Vol.51, No.20, 4309-4316, 2013
Synthesis of Photocleavable Poly(methyl methacrylate-block-D-lactide) via Atom-Transfer Radical Polymerization and Ring-Opening Polymerization
The synthesis and characterization of a photocleavable block copolymer containing an ortho-nitrobenzyl (ONB) linker between poly(methyl methacrylate) and poly(d-lactide) blocks is presented here. The block copolymers were synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of MMA followed by ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of d-Lactide and ROP of d-lactide followed by ATRP of MMA from a difunctional photoresponsive ONB initiator, respectively. The challenges and limitations during synthesis of the photocleavable block copolymers using the difunctional photoresponsive ONB initiator are discussed. The photocleavage of the copolymers occurs under mild conditions by simple irradiation with 302 nm wavelength UV light (Relative intensity at 7.6 cm: 1500 W/cm(2)) for several hours. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 4309-4316
Keywords:atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP);block copolymers;d-lactide;photochemistry;photocleavable;photoreactive effects;ring-opening polymerization