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Polymer Classification: Stereospecificity

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Polymerization generates chiral centers along the entire backbone of a polymer chain. Accordingly, the stereochemistry of the substituent group has a significant effect on polymer properties. Polymers formed from monosubstituted alkene monomers feature chiral carbons at every alternate position in the polymer backbone. Relative to the predominant orientation of substituents at the adjacent chiral carbons, the polymer can exist in three different configurations: isotactic, syndiotactic, and...

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Ring-opening metathesis polymerization or ROMP involves strained cycloalkenes as starting materials. The mechanism of ROMP proceeds by reacting cycloalkene with Grubbs catalyst to give metallacyclobutane intermediate which undergoes a ring-opening reaction to form new carbene. The new carbene reacts with another molecule of cycloalkene. Repetition of these steps leads to the formation of an unsaturated open-chain polymer product. All these steps are reversible, however, relieving the ring...

Polymers

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The word polymer is derived from the Greek words “poly” which means “many” and “mer” which means “parts”. Polymers are long chains of molecules composed of repeating units of smaller molecules, known as monomers. They either occur naturally, such as DNA and proteins, or can be constructed synthetically, like plastics. They have varied structural characteristics, such as linear chains, branched chains, or complex networks, that contribute to the properties that they exhibit. Additionally,...

Polymers

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The word polymer is derived from the Greek words “poly” which means “many” and “mer” which means “parts”. Polymers are long chains of molecules composed of repeating units of smaller molecules, known as monomers. They either occur naturally, such as DNA and proteins, or can be constructed synthetically, like plastics. They have varied structural characteristics, such as linear chains, branched chains, or complex networks, that contribute to the properties that they exhibit. Additionally,...

Polymers

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Recently, the development of olefin metathesis polymerization advanced the field of polymer synthesis. Simply put, the reorganization of substituents on their double bonds between two olefins in the presence of a catalyst is known as the olefin metathesis reaction. The use of metathesis reaction for polymer synthesis is called olefin metathesis polymerization.
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Synthesis of Programmable Main-chain Liquid-crystalline Elastomers Using a Two-stage Thiol-acrylate Reaction

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Published on: January 19, 2016

Solvent programmable polymers based on restricted rotation.

Yagang Zhang¹, Judith M Lavin, Ken D Shimizu

¹Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA.

Journal of the American Chemical Society

|August 7, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Solvent programmable polymers (SPPs) can change their recognition properties by heating in different solvents. This "solvent memory" effect is stable and reversible, enabling new material functionalities.

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Published on: September 26, 2016

Area of Science:

Polymer Chemistry
Materials Science
Supramolecular Chemistry

Background:

Developing materials with tunable recognition properties is crucial for advanced applications.
Existing smart polymers often lack stable, programmable memory of environmental stimuli.
Solvent effects on polymer conformation and recognition are not fully exploited for programming material behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop novel solvent programmable polymers (SPPs) with controllable recognition capabilities.
To investigate the mechanism of solvent-induced property modulation and memory storage.
To assess the stability and reversibility of the solvent programmability.

Main Methods:

Synthesis of highly cross-linked polymer gels incorporating carboxylic acid monomers.
Heating polymers in polar (e.g., water) and nonpolar (e.g., toluene) solvents at elevated temperatures.
Analysis of changes in solvent accessibility of carboxylic acid groups.
Evaluation of the stability and reversibility of the programmed state after solvent removal and cycling.

Main Results:

SPPs demonstrated modulated recognition properties based on solvent polarity after thermal treatment.
Heating in polar solvents increased, while heating in nonpolar solvents decreased, solvent-accessible carboxylic acids.
The programmed state (solvent memory) was preserved upon cooling and removal from the solvent.
The solvent programmability was reversible and maintained fidelity over five heating-cooling cycles.

Conclusions:

Solvent programmable polymers (SPPs) offer a novel mechanism for programming material recognition properties.
The observed solvent memory effect is attributed to restricted rotation around a C(aryl)-N(imide) bond, locking functional groups.
SPPs exhibit stable, reversible, and repeatable switching, paving the way for advanced responsive materials.