Issue 40, 2023

Alternating styrene–propylene and styrene–ethylene copolymers prepared by photocatalytic decarboxylation

Abstract

Synthesis of olefin–styrene copolymers with defined architecture is challenging due to the limitations associated with the inherent reactivity ratios for these monomers in radical or metal-catalyzed polymerizations. Herein, we developed a straightforward approach to alternating styrene–propylene and styrene–ethylene copolymers by combining radical polymerizations and powerful post-polymerization modification reactions. We employed reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) copolymerization between styrene derivatives and saccharin (meth)acrylamide to generate alternating copolymers. Once polymerized, the amide bond of the saccharin monomers was highly reactive toward hydrolysis, an observation exploited to obtain alternating styrene–acrylic acid/methacrylic acid copolymers. Subsequent mild decarboxylation of the (meth)acrylic acid groups in the presence of a photocatalyst and a hydrogen source under visible light resulted in the styrene-alt-ethylene/propylene copolymers. Alternating copolymers comprised of either propylene or ethylene units alternating with functional styrene derivatives were also prepared, illustrating the compatibility of this approach for functional polymer synthesis. Finally, the thermal properties of the alternating copolymers were compared to those from statistical copolymer analogs to elucidate the effect of microarchitecture and styrene substituents on the glass transition temperature.

Graphical abstract: Alternating styrene–propylene and styrene–ethylene copolymers prepared by photocatalytic decarboxylation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
25 Jul 2023
Accepted
25 Sep 2023
First published
02 Oct 2023
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2023,14, 11228-11236

Alternating styrene–propylene and styrene–ethylene copolymers prepared by photocatalytic decarboxylation

E. Schué, D. R. L. Rickertsen, A. B. Korpusik, A. Adili, D. Seidel and B. S. Sumerlin, Chem. Sci., 2023, 14, 11228 DOI: 10.1039/D3SC03827K

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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