Water‐soluble graft copolymers from macromonomer method

Water‐soluble graft copolymers of well‐defined structure having hydrophobic polymethacrylate branches with different ester groups were prepared by the macromonomer method. Methacrylate macromonomers of controlled molecular weights having a methacryloyloxyl end group were synthesized by radical polymerization of the corresponding monomer in the presence of thioglycolic acid followed by the reaction of glycidyl methacrylate with the terminal carboxyl group. These macromonomers were copolymerized with methacrylic acid and methyl methacrylate to prepare tailor‐made graft copolymers composed of a hydrophlic backbone and different kinds of hydrophobic branches, which were characterized by elemental analysis, NMR, and GPC. The viscosities of the aqueous solutions of the sodium salts of these graft copolymers were measured. It was found that the viscosity of the dilute solution of the graft copolymer was remarkably high compared with the corresponding random copolymer irrespective of the ester group in branch segments. Solubilizing behavior of Orange‐OT in aqueous solutions of the graft copolymers and the random copolymer were also investigated to study the nature of the hydrophobic domain of the graft copolymers.