Polymerization of an activated ester monomer based on 4-vinylsulfonic acid and its polymer analogous reaction

Homopolymers containing sulfonic ester side groups were synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization utilizing benzyl dithiobenzoate, cumyl dithiobenzoate, and 4-cyano-4-((thiobenzoyl)sulfanyl) pentanoic acid as chain transfer agents. Likewise diblock copolymers containing poly(styrene), poly(octylstyrene) and poly(pentafluorostyrene) as the second block were synthesized. Additionally, nitroxide mediated polymerization (NMP) was investigated for the synthesis of a homopolymer as well as for a diblock copolymer. Furthermore, the post-polymerization functionalization with various amines to yield the respective sulfonamides was conducted. The conversion was analyzed by H-1 NMR spectroscopy, F-19 NMR spectroscopy and FT-IR spectroscopy and in many cases a very high conversion (>96%) was observed. In addition the reaction kinetics of the post-polymerization functionalization of poly(pentafluorophenyl 4-vinylbenzene sulfonate) and the corresponding carboxyl ester poly(pentafluorophenyl 4-vinylbenzoate) were compared by analysis of the reactions by time-resolved F-19 NMR spectroscopy. It was found that poly(pentafluorophenyl 4-vinylbenzoate) showed a higher stability towards hydrolysis and a significantly higher reactivity, resulting in complete conversions with different amines.