Synthesis of Imidazole‐Terminated Polytetrahydrofuran and Imidazolium‐Containing Ionenes

This work studies the impact of quenching the living polymerization of polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF) with imidazole and imidazole derivatives. Both nitrogen atoms of imidazole rapidly react to form imidazolium‐functionalized‐PTHF. Imidazolium formation could not be fully suppressed even with a large excess of imidazole quenching agent. To achieve imidazole terminated polymers, quenching with 1,1′‐carbonyldiimidazole followed by hydrolysis proved to be an effective and efficient route. Imidazole terminated PTHF was then demonstrated to have utility in coordinating with copper and zinc metal ions to form supramolecular polymers of higher effective molecular weight.