Synthesis of Macrocyclic Copolymer Brushes and Their Self-Assembly into Supramolecular Tubes
Michel Schappacher and
Alain Deffieux*
We report on an efficient route to design large macrocyclic
polymers of controlled molar mass and narrow dispersity. The
strategy is based on the synthesis of a triblock copolymer A
BC,
in which the long central block
B is extended by two short A
and C sequences bearing reactive antagonist functions. When
reacted under highly dilute conditions, this precursor produces
the corresponding macrocycle by intramolecular coupling of the
A and C blocks. Chloroethyl vinyl ether was selected as the
monomer for the central block
B, because it can be readily derivatized
into brushlike polymers by a grafting process. The corresponding
macrocyclic brushes were decorated with polystyrene or randomly
distributed polystyrene and polyisoprene branches. In a selective
solvent for the polyisoprene branches, the macrocyclic brushes
self-assemble into cylindrical tubes of up to 700 nanometers.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: deffieux{at}enscpb.fr
