Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering - Theses

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/11343/354

Filters

2016 1
1
Reset filters

Settings
Statistics
Citations
Subject: polymer × Author: McKenzie, Thomas George ×

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    The development and exploitation of highly living radical polymerizations
    McKenzie, Thomas George ( 2016)
    The synthesis of polymers with controlled molecular weights, designed topology, and defined chemical functionality is becoming increasingly important for high value applications where the improved properties that polymers with well-defined (macro)molecular structures can provide are desirable. Development of chain-growth radical polymerization technologies that allow for the synthesis of polymers of low dispersity with a high degree of chemical fidelity (i.e., retention of the α and ω chain end functionalities) has accelerated in the recent past, with the improvements in chemical fidelity opening new avenues to the application of these techniques for the synthesis of complex and multi-functional macromolecular architectures via relatively simple synthetic pathways. In this thesis, a novel photocontrolled radical polymerization technique is presented and investigated. This technique combines many of the desirable features of a modern controlled polymerization process, including: i) propagation via an active radical species, allowing for a wide range of compatible functional groups and a diverse solvents under relatively simple reaction conditions; ii) the ability to control the polymerization via an external stimulus (i.e., light), allowing for potential spatial and temporal control; and iii) the production of polymers of low dispersity and with high chemical fidelity. The exploitation of this, and other recently developed synthetic technologies is demonstrated via the facile synthesis of (mulit)block and star (co)polymers in simple one-pot reactions. Highly complex chemical structures are attained through a variety of approaches, however the key to the success of all of these is the degree to which chemical fidelity is maintained throughout the course of the polymerization reaction. This research therefore introduces new strategies toward the synthesis of polymers of high chemical and structural fidelity, and presents ways in which these desirable features can be exploited for the straightforward synthesis of complex polymeric architectures with higher orders of chemical and structural complexity.