Mono-hydroxyl terminated polycaprolactone(PCL) was prepared by Novozyme 435 catalyzed ring-opening polymerization(ROP) of ε-caprolactone(ε-CL) initiated by methanol,and subsequently converted to bromine ended PCL by the esterification of the resulting macromolecules with α-bromopropionyl bromide.The macroinitiators containing α-bromoester group were employed in the atom transfer radical polymerization(ATRP) of glycidyl methacrylate(GMA) with CuCl/2,2-bipyridine(bpy) as the catalyst system to obtain amphiphilic diblock copolymer PCL-b-PGMA.
This work was directed to develop a novel method for the synthesis of hyperbranched polymers by combining enzymatic ring-opening polymerization(ROP) with self-condensing vinyl copolymerization(SCVCP). Functionalized PCL was prepared by ROP of ε-CL with HEMA as the initiator and catalyzed by Novozyme 435, and subsequently converted to AB* macroinimer by the esterification with 2-bromoisobutyryl bromide. The target polymer was obtained by SCVCP of AB* macroinimer with styrene via ATRP.
