Reactive & Functional Polymers, Vol.57, No.2-3, 137-146, 2003
Synthesis of novel types of graft copolymers by a "grafting-from" method using ring-opening polymerization of lactones and lactides
Polystyrene and polystyrene-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) densely grafted with poly(epsilon-caprolactone) or poly(DL-lactide) in the benzene rings were synthesized by a "grafting-from" method using hydroxylated precursors of the above styrene polymers as macroinitiators of the ring-opening polymerization of appropriate monomers. The poly(epsilon-caprolactone) grafts of the polystyrene-graft-poly(epsilon-caprolactone) copolymer were lengthened with poly(methyl methacrylate) by atom transfer radical polymerization. All the synthesized graft copolymers were characterized by H-1 and C-13 NMR spectroscopy and by size exclusion chromatography. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.