One-pot synthesis of TBTA-functionalized coordinating polymers

A one-pot method for the functionalization of polyvinylbenzyl chloride with a tris-(benzyltriazolylmethyl)amine (TBTA) ligand via the copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition reaction (CuAAC) is reported, where the ligand is constructed simultaneously with its attachment to the polymer backbone. A hydrophobic TBTA polymer as well as co-polymers containing TBTA ligands were also prepared to demonstrate the possibility of tailoring the properties of the polymers. The polymers were characterized with FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, contact angle measurement, differential scanning calorimetry and thermal gravimetric analysis. The metal coordinating properties of films prepared from the polymers was also demonstrated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and their structures inspected by scanning electron microscopy.