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Published on: June 20, 2019
Synthesis of High Molecular Weight Cyclic Poly(ε-caprolactone)s of Variable Ring Size Based on a Light-Induced
Haodi Wang1, Li Zhang1, Binyuan Liu1
1Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, No. 8 Guangrong Road, Hongqiao District Tianjin, 300130, China.
Abstract:
High molecular weight cyclic poly(ε-caprolactone)s (cPCLs) with variable ring size are synthesized via light-induced ring closure of α,ω-anthracene-terminated PCL (An-PCL-An). The ring size of cPCL is tunable simply by adjusting the polymer concentration from 10 to 100 mg mL(-1) in THF. The cyclo-addition via the bimolecular cyclization of An-PC-An is well characterized by a variety of analyses such as (1) H NMR and UV-vis spectroscopies, gel-permeation chromatography, and differential scanning calorimetry. The reversible dimerization of An induced by heating enables the cyclic PCL to have a switchable "on-off" capability. This novel light-induced ring-closure technique can be one of the most powerful candidates for producing various well-defined cyclic polymers in highly concentrated polymer solution.
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