Thermal Control over the Topology of Cleavable Polymers:  From Linear to Hyperbranched Structures

We found that the topology of cleavable polymer from linear to hyperbranched can be tuned simply by varying the polymerization temperature: linear polymers were produced at temperatures ≤ 40 °C, hyperbranched polymers were obtained at elevated temperatures (≥ 48 °C); the degree of branching (DB) of hyperbranched polymers increased with the increase of temperature. Furthermore, the produced linear and hyperbranched polymers contain stimuli-sensitive disulfide bonds in the backbone that can be easily cleaved into small organic molecules in the presence of DTT.