Heterofunctional Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) Macroinitiator Enabling Controlled Synthesis of ABC Triblock Copolymers.

ABSTRACT: ABC triblock copolymers with a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) midblock have attractive properties for biomedical applications because of PEG's favorable properties regarding biocompatibility and hydrophilicity. However, easy strategies to synthesize polymers containing a PEG midblock are limited. In this study, the successful synthesis of a heterofunctional PEG macroinitiator containing both an azoinitiator and an atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) initiator is demonstrated. This novel PEG macroinitiator allows the development of elegant synthesis routes for PEG midblock-containing ABC copolymers that does not require protection of initiating sites or polymer end-group postmodification. Polymers with outer blocks composed of different monomers were synthesized to illustrate the versa

SUBMITTER: Fliervoet LAL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5688415 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature