Accelerating the Living Polymerization of 2-Nonyl-2-oxazoline by Implementing a Microwave Synthesizer into a High-Throughput Experimentation Workflow

Hoogenboom, Richard; Wiesbrock, Frank; Leenen, Mark A. M.; Meier, Michael; Schubert, Ulrich S.

Abstract:

Introduction. During the past decade, the field of highthroughput and combinatorial polymer research has grown rapidly. Many different polymerization techniques, varying from polycondensation to anionic polymerizations, have been performed in an automated parallel fashion. To analyze the increasing amount of samples, various characterization techniques have been automated or accelerated, as well. Another very recent development in organic chemical research is the introduction of (monomodal) microwave synthesizers. Performing reactions under microwave irradiation instead of conventional heating results in increased reaction speeds and reduced occurrence of side reactions; however, the driving force (thermal or nonthermal microwave effects) for these improvements is still under debate. Microwave synthesizers were also applied for combinatorial approaches in organic chemistry. The commercially available microwave synthesizers for combinatorial and highthroughput synthesis from the major suppliers were described recently in equipment reviews. Although microwaveassisted synthesis is quite common in organic synthesis nowadays, its application in polymer chemistry is only in its infancy. The effect of microwave irradiation has been mainly investigated for step-growth polymerizations, ringopening polymerizations, and for both free and controlled radical polymerizations; however, many of the reported investigations were performed utilizing domestic microwave ovens without full temperature and pressure control, making the reproducibility doubtful.

Year:

2005

Type of Publication:

Article

Journal:

Journal of Combinatorial Chemistry

Volume:

7

Pages:

10 - 13