Vinyl boronate polymers with dynamic exchange properties

Boron-containing polymers have aroused great research interest in materials science due to their specific recognition, stimulus-response, and dynamic exchange. However, the introduction of boron-containing groups into the pendant of polymers remains a great challenge. This work introduces vinyl boronic acid (VB(OH)(2), CH2 - CHB(OH)(2)) and a series of boronate monomers for preparing well-defined polyolefins with boron-containing groups. Vinylboronic acid pinacol ester (VBpin) was found to be a suitable monomer in radical polymerization, and the well-defined corresponding polymers were successfully obtained by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The thermal stability of the prepared VBpin-containing polymers showed a significant improvement after the reduction of the trithioester end groups. Moreover, the dynamic exchange properties of VBpin polymers were investigated, indicating the potential of these polymers as functional materials.

Automated summary

Boron-containing polymers have attracted great attention in materials science due to their unique recognition, stimulus-response, and dynamic exchange properties. This study successfully introduced vinyl boronic acid and a series of boronate monomers to prepare well-defined polyolefins with boron-containing groups via RAFT polymerization. The resulting polymers exhibited improved thermal stability and showed potential for use as functional materials with dynamic exchange properties.