Main-chain chiral copoly(2-oxazoline)s
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Bloksma, Meta M.; Schubert, Ulrich S.; Hoogenboom, Richard
- Abstract:
- (Chiral) poly(2-oxazoline)s are regarded as pseudo-polypeptides, however, not much is known about
their secondary structure formation. Recently we reported that chiral homopolymers based on R- and
S-2-butyl-4-ethyl-2-oxazoline (BuEtOx) monomers form flexible dynamic helices in solution (Soft
Matter, 2010, 6, 994–1003) and a chiral crystalline structure in the solid state (Macromolecules, 2010,
43, 4654–4659). In the current work we addressed the chiral structure formation of main-chain chiral
copoly(2-oxazoline)s with controlled ratio of S-BuEtOx and R-BuEtOx. No chiral amplification was
found in solution or in the solid state, clearly indicating that the polymers adopt a dynamic helical
structure that is easily disrupted by incorporation of the second monomer. Nonetheless, the properties
of these main-chain chiral copoly(2-oxazoline)s, such as the optical rotation, solubility and
crystallinity, can be tuned by controlling the enantiomeric excess (ee).
- Year:
- 2011
- Type of Publication:
- Article
- Journal:
- Polymer Chemistry
- Volume:
- 2
- Pages:
- 203 - 208