Constitutional Isomers of Dendrimer-like Star Polymers: Design, Synthesis, and Conformational and Structural Properties

The design, synthesis, and solution properties of six constitutional isomers of dendrimer-like star polymers is described. Each of the polymers have comparable molecular weights (∼80 000), narrow polydispersities (<1.19) and an identical number of branching junctures (45) and surface hydroxyl functionalities (48). The only difference in the six isomers is the placement of the branching junctures. The polymers are constructed from high molecular weight poly(e-caprolactone) with branching junctures derived from 2,2‘-bis(hydroxylmethyl) propionic acid (bis-MPA) emanating from a central core. The use of various generations of dendritic initiators and dendrons coupled with the ring-opening polymerization of e-caprolactones allowed a modular approach to the dendrimer-like star polymer isomers. The most pronounced effects on the physical properties/morphology and hydrodynamic volume was for those polymers in which the branching was distributed throughout the sample in a dendrimer-like fashion. The versatility of...