Facile One-Pot Synthesis of Brush Polymers through Tandem Catalysis Using Grubbs' Catalyst for Both Ring-Opening Metathesis and Atom Transfer Radical Polymerizations

Using Grubbs' catalyst Cl2(PCy3)2Ru=CHPh for tandem catalysis, poly(methyl methacrylate)-based brush polymers were prepared by one-pot sequential ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) via an inimer having both an alpha-bromoisobutyrate ATRP initiator functionality and an exo-norbornenyl ROMP monomer functionality. The surface morphologies and aggregation behaviors of these nanoscopic single molecules were studied by tapping-mode atomic force microscopy measurements on mica.