Influence of β‐Cyclodextrin on the Free‐Radical Copolymerization of N‐(4‐Methylphenyl)maleimide with N‐Vinylpyrrolidone in Water

Randomly methylated β‐cyclodextrin (me‐β‐CD) is used to include the hydrophobic monomer N‐(4‐methylphenyl)maleimide (MPM) (1) yielding the corresponding water‐soluble host‐guest structure 1a. Free‐radical copolymerization of 1a with N‐vinylpyrrolidone (NVP) (2) is performed and the reactivity ratios r1 and r2 are determined: 0.24 ± 0.03 (r2) and 1.10 ± 0.05 (r1a). This indicates a preferred incorporation of complexed maleimide into the copolymer chain. In contrast to that, the copolymerization of the uncomplexed monomers 1 and 2 is carried out using organic solvent (DMF/H2O) showing reactivity ratios corresponding to nearly alternating copolymerization (r2 = 0.09 ± 0.02; r1 = 0.34 ± 0.03).