Soluble Intramolecularly Hypercrosslinked Nanosponges

Among the numerous naturally occurring and synthetic macromolecular species, only four basic types can be distinguished when considering the overall shape of individual species in a dilute solution. These types are 

These types of macromolecules are shown in Fig. 8.1. Many other variants of macromolecules have been synthesized however, their overaU shape represents combinations of the above four basic types, for example, a globule with one or several long-coded chains grafted onto its surface. Simdarly, ad brush-type, worm-hke, star-shaped molecules, dumbbeUs, etc., can be classified according to combinations of the above basic structures. 

This chapter introduces a novel macromolecular species, the intramolecularly hypercrosshnked polystyrene (IHPS) or nanosponge, which differs fundamentaUy from the above four basic types 

Comprehensive Analytical Chemistry, Volume 56 ISSN0166-526X, DOI 10.1016/S0166-526X(10)56008-3 

The synthetic path to the IHPS thus consists of introducing intramole-cularly a large number of rigid crosslinks between the different repeat units of a single linear polymeric chain taken in the form of a coil in a dilute solution. In this way one can expect to arrive at a hypercrosslinked structure on a (macro)molecular level. 

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