Polyether-Based Triblock Copolymers

Akashi and coworkers (Tanaka etal, 2004) reported on the sohd-state nanoscale structure of ABA type triblock copolymers composed of a central PEG block flanked by two poly(jS-benzyl L-aspartate) (PBLAsp) blocks. The molecular weight of the central PEG block was 11 or 20 kg/ mol and the degrees of polymerization of the peptide blocks ranged from 12 to 32. WAXS and POM studies on CH2Cl2-cast films showed PEG crystalhzation in all samples. 

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Three major topics of research which are based on phase transfer catalyzed reactions will be presented with examples. These refer to the synthesis of functional polymers containing functional groups (i.e., cyclic imino ethers) sensitive both to electrophilic and nucleophilic reagents a novel method for the preparation of regular, segmented, ABA triblock and (A-B)n alternating block copolymers, and the development of a novel class of main chain thermotropic liquid-crystalline polymers, i.e., polyethers. 

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