Synthesis of Bottlebrush Copolymers Containing Polystyrene and Poly (methyl methacrylate) Derivatives and Their Self-Assembly

Abstract

Bottlebrush copolymers (BBCPs) are comblike macromolecules containing high density of polymeric side chains. Utilizing ruthenium-mediated ROMP with “grafting-through” is powerful method to synthesize brush polymers with well-defined side chains. Living anionic polymerization (LAP) is best polymerization technique for preparing well-defined polymers with predictable molecular weight (MW) and narrow molecular weight distributions (MWDs). The bottlebrush copolymers containing polystyrene and poly (methyl methacrylate) derivatives were prepared by combination of LAP and ROMP with grafting-through strategy. ω-End-nobornyl polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate) derivatives macromonomers were synthesized by LAP and bottlebrush copolymers were synthesized symmetrically by ROMP with ultrahigh MWs and narrow MWDs in high conversions. The self-assembly of resulting BBCPs through solvent evaporation and post annealing revealed periodic lamellar morphology and their structural colors.