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

在这项由化学系高分子、超分子和纳米化学计划资助的热切项目中，休斯顿大学的Rigoberto Advincula将研究如何合成骨架扭曲成精确定义的结的聚合物。方法是合成超分子金属络合物，其中配体通过链连接成结，这些链包含用于可逆加成-断裂链转移(RAFT)聚合或环插入聚合(RIP)的转移子。下一步，将通过聚合来扩展连接，最后将去除金属离子模板以产生自由、打结的聚合物。更广泛的影响包括培训本科生和研究生，将模板合成和纽结理论纳入大学的化学课程，以及创建一个描述该项目结果的网站，并包含纽结理论的教育信息。这项工作将加深我们对高分子链的物理行为的基本理解。聚合物链是塑料材料的基本单元，对其性质的进一步了解可能会在粘合剂、结构材料以及汽车和航空航天复合材料中带来新的应用。

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.