A carbene insertion approach to functionalised poly(ethylene oxide)-based gels

Blencowe, A., Blencowe, C., Cosstick, K. and Hayes, W. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0047-2991 (2008) A carbene insertion approach to functionalised poly(ethylene oxide)-based gels. Reactive & Functional Polymers, 68 (4). pp. 868-875. ISSN 1381-5148 doi: 10.1016/j.reactfunctpolym.2007.12.009

Abstract/Summary

Carbenes photogenerated from the novel bisdiazirine, 1, 3-bis(3-(trifluoromethyl)diazirin-3-yl) benzene 1, have been applied successfully to cross-linking of mono-methyl poly(ethylene oxide) (MePEO5000) in the presence of dichloromethane, leading to the simultaneous incorporation of alkylhalide functionalities. The PEO-based gels swell in a wide range of solvents with polarity index values varying from 3.1 to 9.0. Reaction of the alkylhalide functionalities present in the gels with 4-phenylazophenol provided loading capacities of up to 0.20 mmol g(-1) and demonstrated the potential of these materials for gel-phase synthesis applications. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.