6533b835fe1ef96bd129e8d1

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Stimuli-Responsive Tertiary Amine Functional PEGs Based on N,N-Dialkylglycidylamines

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Amine-functional poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) copolymers have been prepared that exhibit thermo- and pH- responsive behavior in aqueous solution. Three novel tertiary di(n-alkyl)glycidylamine monomers have been introduced for anionic ring-opening copolymerization (AROcP) with ethylene oxide (EO): N,N-di(n-butyl)glycidylamine (DButGA), N,N-di(n-hexyl)glycidylamine (DHexGA), and N,N-di(n-octyl)glycidylamine (DOctGA). Via controlled AROcP we synthesized well-defined (Mw/Mn = 1.05–1.14), water-soluble block- and gradient-type PEG copolymers, containing up to 25 mol % of the respective dialkylglycidylamine comonomer. Molecular weights ranged from 4900 to 12 000 g mol–1. Detailed in-situ 1H NMR kinetics and 13C triad analyses elucidate the microstructures of the copolymers and the relative reactivity of the novel comonomers. Notably, the n-alkyl chain length had no significant influence on the relative reactivity of the glycidylamine comonomers. Calculated reactivity ratios ranged from rEO = 1.84, rDButGA = 0.49...