Thermally degradable polymers are of wide interest in the area of sacrificial materials, lithography, and drug delivery systems. A new series of thermally degradable polyesters with tunable degradation rate have been developed by controlled radical polyadditions of a bis(bromoisobutyrate) type monomer and a bis(styrenic) type monomer. These polymers undergo chain scission through intramolecular cyclization of the ?-haloalkanoate groups in the polymer backbone at elevated temperatures.  Kinetic studies showed that tunable rate of degradation can be achieved by changing the molecular structure of the monomers. The polymers with benzyl groups linked to the labile groups degrade much faster than the other polymers, while the polymers possessing rigid bicyclic isosorbide group shows the slowest rate. The effects of solvent on the degradation behaviors were also investigated and a remarkable acceleration of the lactonization was observed as the polarity of the solvent increased. This work demonstrated a facile access to thermally labile polymers with tunable degradation rate.

Thermally labile polyesters by controlled radical polyadditions

248th National Meeting (2014)

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