Homo‐ and diblock copolymers of poly(furfuryl glycidyl ether) by living anionic polymerization: Toward reversibly core‐crosslinked micelles

Abstract

Abstract We report the synthesis and characterization of well‐defined homo‐ and diblock copolymers containing poly(furfuryl glycidyl ether) (PFGE) via living anionic ring‐opening polymerization using different initiators. The obtained materials were characterized by SEC, MALDI‐TOF MS, and 1 H NMR spectroscopy and molar masses of up to 9400 g/mol were obtained for PFGE homopolymers. If the amphiphilic diblock copolymer PEG‐ block ‐PFGE was dissolved in water, micelles with a PFGE core and a PEG corona were formed. Hereby, the hydrophobic PFGE core domains were used for the incorporation of a suitable bismaleimide and heating to 60 °C induced the crosslinking of the micellar core via Diels‐Alder chemistry. This process was further shown to be reversible. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012