A catalyst system using the redox-active bis(imino)pyridine iron(II) bis(alkoxide) has been utilized to develop a new way to crosslink polymers that complements existing methodologies. The new method relies on the chemoselectivity of the catalyst, which is dependent on the oxidation state of the catalyst being active for cyclic diester polymerization in the iron(II) oxidation state and inactive when in the iron(III) oxidation state. Orthogonal reactivity was observed for reactions with epoxides (i.e. iron(III) is active for epoxide polymerization while iron(II) is inactive), which allowed for the application of the system for redox-triggered crosslinking when monomers that contain both a cyclic diester and epoxide functionality are employed. Investigation into the dependency that this reaction has on the identity of the crosslinking monomer will be discussed. Additionally, efforts to control the crosslinking density will be investigated including copolymerization reactions between the functionalized monomers and lactide, redox-switchable crosslinking reactions, and terpolymerization reactions between epoxide-functionalized cyclic diesters, lactide, and epoxides. The effect that these different cross-linked polymers has on the thermal, physical, and mechanical properties of the new cross-linked polymers will be revealed.

Synthesis and characterization of crosslinked biodegradable polymers obtained using a redox-triggered crosslinking reaction

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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