A modular strategy for the synthesis of dendron-linear polymer hybrids comprised of a flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) midblock with cationic 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)propionic acid (bis-MPA) dendron end groups is developed. The invention of a scalable methodology to access quaternary ammonium carboxylate building blocks and their direct use in esterification chemistry enables rapid access to cationic bis-MPA dendrons. The convergent click coupling of highly charged dendrons to hydrophobic PDMS chain-ends gives a 12-membered family of hybrids that are comprised of different dendron generations (G1-3) and quaternary ammonium alkyl chain lengths (C4 , C8 , C12 , C16 ). This provides a library of materials with variable hydrophobicity, charge density, and chain-end valency. The physical behavior of the dendron-linear PDMS hybrid copolymers significantly changes after introduction of the cationic dendron end-groups and leads to soft-solid materials as a result of inhibited chain mobility. These PDMS-dendron hybrids are expected to behave as surface-active antimicrobial additives in bulk cross-linked silicone systems.
Keywords: antimicrobial polymers; cationic polymers; click chemistry; dendrimer; silicone.
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