Development of amphiphilic multi-star polymers with highly grafted pyrene connectors as unimolecular encapsulation devices

Abstract

Complex and hierarchically structured unimolecular polymeric architectures provide unique opportunities for self-assembly, encapsulation, segregation and recognition. Herein, we report the synthesis of unimolecular anisotropic and amphiphilic multi-star architectures consisting of multiple discrete core cross-linked star (CCS) polymers covalently tethered together through highly grafted polymeric connectors. These multi-star architectures, referred to as di-star and tri-star polymers, were prepared via a combination of atom transfer radical polymerisation (ATRP) and a copper-catalysed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) grafting-to approach. Initially, poly(tert-butyl methacrylate) (P tBMA)-b..