Mechanically interlocked polymers (MIPs) derive their name from the unique mechanical bonding motif in which the polymer components are constrained in space but not physically bound to each other. MIPs have received increasing attention of late due to their potential in the fields of molecular machines and smart soft materials. Of these materials, one of the most synthetically challenging architectures is the poly[n]catenane, a polymer composed only of interlocked macrocyclic rings, where n is equal to the number of interlocked rings. After our initial synthesis of the first poly[n]catenane material, our work has primarily focused on investigating the synthetic details of the initial material and making modifications to the pre-made ring structure. The work presented here will discuss our first modifications to the component (thread) undergoing the metathesis reaction. By making slight modifications to the length of the alkene tail where the metathesis reactions occurs and the linker opposite the reaction site (see abstract figure), we are able to observe appreciable differences in the poly[n]catenanes created. Three new poly[n]catenane structures were characterized extensively via NMR and GPC analyses. This talk will focus on the poly[n]catenane materials resulting from these syntheses and how slight modifications to the initial thread structure can affect the overall yield, molecular weight, and architecture of a poly[n]catenane material.

Modifications to poly[n]catenane sythesis and the effect on polymeric structure

ACS Spring 2022

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