2012 journal article
Determining the Regioregularity in Alkyne Polycarbodiimides and Their Orthogonal Modification of Side Chains To Yield Perfectly Alternating Functional Polymers
MACROMOLECULES, 45(20), 8155–8165.
To understand the structure–property relationship in functional macromolecules through side chain modulation, both the accurate determination of the position of modifiable groups along the polymer chain and their subsequent modifications using high fidelity methods are crucial. In this report, the polymer microstructure of a helical alkyne polycarbodiimide has directly been probed through 15N NMR spectroscopy on isotopic labeled poly(N-(3-ethynylphenyl)-15N′-hexyl)carbodiimide and found to be a highly regioregular polymer structure. This polymer undergoes facile and quantitative CuAAC “click” chemistry, yielding perfectly alternating functional polymers. Advances have been made through the synthesis of new optically active alkyne polycarbodiimides with two independently modifiable pendant groups per repeat unit of polymers. Orthogonal postmodifications of the pendant groups were then performed to incorporate two different sets of small molecules in the repeat unit of polymers in a controlled manner and un...