Polymeric imidazole based ligands are highly useful in coordinating to quantum dot materials, mainly due to their resistance to degradation and robust attachment to quantum dots. Methods to synthesize such polymers mainly use imidazole moieties as the monomer, which requires extensive synthetic steps and purification methods. Outlined herein is a facile post modification strategy aided by the use of the N-methacryloxy succinimide (NMS) monomer. As the polymer needs to be water soluble to enable dispersion of quantum dots in water, a PEG based methacrylate is also used as a comonomer along with NMS. The NMS essentially behaves as an activated ester along the chain and facilitates the attachment of the imidazole to the polymer backbone. This approach is extremely versatile as it provides both water solubility and the addition of activated esters along the chain whereby any nucleophilic compound can be directly added on the polymer chain. Studies of attachment of the copolymers to quantum dots showed that better dispersion quality was observed with smaller MW copolymers, while maintaining high quantum yields. Overall, a simple and robust postmodification method for the effective functionalization of quantum dots with multidentate imidazole moieties is outlined.

Facile synthesis methods for water soluble histamine copolymers and its attachment to quantum dots

247th National Meeting (2014)

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