Synthesis of star-glycopolymers by Cu(0)-mediated radical polymerisation in the absence and presence of oxygen

Abstract

In this paper, novel star glycopolymers were synthesized via Cu(0)-mediated radical polymerisation at ambient temperature. The reaction was fast with little star-star coupling. Moreover, star glycopolymers can be obtained without removing oxygen from the polymerisation mixture. The effects of solvent and the ratio of initiator/catalyst/ligand on polymerisation were investigated, and the optimal conditions for the synthesis of star glycopolymer were determined. In addition, the binding ability between synthesised glycopolymers and concanavalin A (ConA) was studied using a turbidity test and quartz crystal microbalance-dissipation (QCM-D). Compared with linear glycopolymers, star glycopolymers showed higher binding ability to specific lectins and the strongest binding was obtained when the molecular weight was medium.