Arborescent polyisobutylene (arbPIB)-based block copolymers display unique thermoplastic elastomeric properties to make them very attractive for biomedical applications. These novel block copolymers provide an alternative choice of materials to medical grade silicone rubber for biomedical devices. The synthetic route of these materials has been previously reported. This route uses arbPIB macroinitiators in conjunction with titanium tetrachloride followed by the addition of the second monomer, in this case p-methylstyrene (MS). Earlier reports found that only ~50% MS conversion was achieved in the second synthesis step for arbPIB-MS. In this study, we established optimal synthesis conditions to yield a 100% MS conversion without any homopolymerization. The complete incorporation of the p-methylstyrene in the arbPIB-MS was confirmed with proton nuclear magnetic resonance and size exclusion chromatography analyses. The number average molecular weight (Mn) of arbPIB-MS polymer obtained in this polymerization was 156,900 g/mol and its weight average molecular weight (Mw) was 321,400 g/mol.

Synthesis of arborescent poly(isobutylene-b-p-methylstyrene)

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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