Supramolecular Star-Shaped Poly(ethylene glycol) Based on a [2 × 2] Grid-Like Metal Complex

Richard Hoogenboom; Brian C Moore; Ulrich S Schubert

doi:10.1002/marc.200900834

Supramolecular Star-Shaped Poly(ethylene glycol) Based on a [2 × 2] Grid-Like Metal Complex

Macromol Rapid Commun. 2010 May 12;31(9-10):840-5. doi: 10.1002/marc.200900834. Epub 2010 Mar 4.

Authors

Richard Hoogenboom¹, Brian C Moore, Ulrich S Schubert

Affiliation

¹ Laboratory of Macromolecular Chemistry and Nanoscience, Eindhoven University of Technology, Den Dolech 2, 5612AZ Eindhoven, The Netherlands; Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University Nijmegen, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands. r.hoogenboom@tue.nl.

PMID: 21590976
DOI: 10.1002/marc.200900834

Abstract

Supramolecular star-shaped polymers are a class of materials that are formed by self-assembly of polymeric precursors. The resulting structures combine the beneficial properties of conventional star-shaped polymers and (reversible) supramolecular interactions. We previously introduced [2 × 2] copper(I) grids of 3,6-di(2-pyridyl)-pyridazine (DPP) as structural motif to form the core of supramolecular star-shaped polymers. In the current work, this concept is expanded to star-shaped poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) by end-functionalization of amine-functionalized PEG with DPP. The synthesis and characterization of PEG-DPP as well as the self-assembly into star-shaped supramolecular polymers upon copper(I) complexation are discussed in detail.