Synthesis and crystal structures of multifunctional tosylates as basis for star-shaped poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)s

Abstract

The synthesis of well-defined polymer architectures is of major importance for the development of complex functional materials. In this contribution, we discuss the synthesis of a range of multifunctional star-shaped tosylates as potential initiators for the living cationic ring-opening polymerization (CROP) of 2-oxazolines resulting in star-shaped polymers. The synthesis of the tosylates was performed by esterification of the corresponding alcohols with tosyl chloride. Recrystallization of these tosylate compounds afforded single crystals, and the X-ray crystal structures of di-, tetra-and hexa-tosylates are reported. The use of tetra-and hexatosylates, based on (di)pentaerythritol as initiators for the CROP of 2-ethyl-2-oxazoline, resulted in very slow initiation and illdefined polymers, which is most likely caused by steric hindrance in these initiators. As a consequence, a porphyrin-cored tetratosylate initiator was prepared, which yielded a well-defined star-shaped poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) by CROP as demonstrated by SEC with RI, UV and diode-array detectors, as well as by 1H NMR spectroscopy. © 2010 Hoogenboom et al.