Synthesis and gel‐permeation chromatography of oligo(oxyethylene) n‐alkyl ethers

Uniform samples of oligo(oxyethylene)s were synthesized: either H(OCH2CH2)mO(CH2)nH or CH3(OCH2CH2)mO(CH2)nH, with m in the range 4 to 16 and n = 9 or 15. The samples were eluted through a low‐porosity gel‐permeation chromatography column with either dichloromethane (DCM), tetrahydrofuran (THF) or N,N‐dimethylacetamide (DMA) as eluent. The elution volumes in the good solvents (DCM, THF) were insensitive to composition, while those in DMA depended on both chain length and composition.