Synthesis and Characterization of Well-Defined Chain-End- and In-Chain-Functionalized Polystyrenes with a Definite Number of d -Glucose and/or d -Galactose

The synthetic methodologies for various well-defined chain-end- and in-chain-functionalized polystyrenes with a definite number of d -glucose and/or d -galactose residues have been described. They are based on diverse modes of addition reactions of polystyryllithium with substituted 1,1-diphenylethylene derivatives with acetal-protected α- d -glucofuranose and α- d -galactopyranose residues, followed by deprotection. By employing these methodologies, chain-end-functionalized polystyrenes with 4, 6, and 8 d -glucose and/or d -galactose residues and in-chain-functionalized polystyrenes with 2, 4, 8, and 12 d -glucose residues were synthesized. These polymers all were precisely controlled with regard to molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, degree of functionalization, and functionalized position in a chain. Such functionalized polymers with monosaccharide residues aggregated possibly to form reversed micelles in cyclohexane at 39 °C. It was observed that the aggregation number increased as increasing with the number of monosaccharide residue of both chain-end- and in-chain-functionalized polymers.