Anionic Polymerization of para-(1-Ethoxy ethoxy)styrene: Rapid Access to Poly(p-hydroxystyrene) Copolymer Architectures

Living anionic polymerization of para -(1-ethoxy ethoxy)styrene ( p EES) resulting in molecular weights between 2700 and 69 000 g mol –1 and polydispersity indices ≤1.09 is introduced. P p EES can be used as a precursor for the synthesis of well-defined poly( p -hydroxystyrene) (PHS) architectures, enabling facile and rapid acidic deprotection at room temperature within a few minutes. In addition, a series of block copolymers containing p EES and 2-vinylpyridine (2VP) have been synthesized by anionic block copolymerization, with varied block ratios ( X 2VP ) between 0.13 and 0.83. Characterization by 1 H NMR spectroscopy, size exclusion chromatography (SEC), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was carried out, and all polymers have been deprotected, leading to the respective PHS- b -P2VP block copolymers. Furthermore, PHS- b -P2VP has been used as a macroinitiator for the anionic ring-opening polymerization of ethylene oxide (EO) to generate ((PHS- g -PEO 51 ) 13 - b -P2VP 40 ) graft-block copolymers.