EAGER: Knotty Polymers via Supramolecularly Templated Living Free-Radical Polymerization Iniferters

在这个由化学学部大分子、超分子和纳米化学项目资助的EAGER项目中，休斯顿大学的Rigoberto Advincula将研究如何合成聚合物，使其骨干扭曲成精确定义的结。该方法是合成超分子金属配合物，其中配体通过含有可逆加成-碎片链转移（RAFT）聚合或环插入聚合（RIP）的干扰物的链连接在一起形成结。接下来，链接将通过聚合扩展，最后金属离子模板将被移除，从而产生自由的、打结的聚合物。更广泛的影响包括培训本科生和研究生，将模板合成和结理论纳入大学的化学课程，并创建一个网站，描述项目的结果，并包含结理论的教育信息。这项工作将增强我们对聚合物链物理行为的基本理解。聚合物链是塑料材料的基本单位，对其性能的进一步了解可能会在粘合剂、结构材料、汽车和航空航天复合材料方面带来新的应用。

In this EAGER project funded by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Rigoberto Advincula of the University of Houston will study how to synthesize polymers with their backbones twisted into precisely-defined knots. The approach is to synthesize supramolecular metal complexes in which the ligands are linked together into knots via chains that contain iniferters for reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerizations or ring insertion polymerizations (RIP). Next, the links will be expanded via polymerization, and finally the metal ion templates will be removed to yield the free, knotted polymer. The broader impacts involve training undergraduate students and graduate students, incorporating template synthesis and knot theory into the chemistry curriculum at the university, and creating a website describing the results of the project and containing educational information on knot theory. This work will enhance our fundamental understanding about the physical behavior of polymer chains. Polymer chains are the fundamental units of plastic materials, and further knowledge about their properties could lead to new applications in adhesives, structural materials, and automotive and aerospace composites.