No description available.

Two series of aliphatic hyperbranched (HB) polyesters have been synthesized from 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)propionic acid and di-trimethylolpropane using pseudo-one-step or one-step procedure. The structure and properties of these HB polyesters, investigated with different characterization techniques in solution, melt and solid state, were compared between each other, with commercial Boltorn HB polyesters and samples obtained by modification of the end -OH groups with ß-alanine or stearic acid. Seven HB polyesters were fractionated in order to obtain three fractions of each sample. The experimental results obtained from NMR spectroscopy, acid and hydroxyl number titration, GPC, vapour pressure osmometry, MALDI TOF and ESI mass spectrometry indicate that during the synthesis reactivity of terminal and linear -OH groups was not the same and that side reactions occurred in significant amount, which led to the lowering of the number average molar mass and broadening of the molar mass distribution. According to the results obtained from viscosimetry of diluted solutions and dynamic light scattering the best solvents for these HB polyesters are 0.7 mass % solution of LiCl in N,N-dimethylacetamide and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinon (NMP). The limiting viscosity number and the hydrodynamic radius of the samples increase up to the sixth pseudo generation in these two solvents. Investigated HB polyesters behave as Newtonian liquids in concentrated solutions (c < 50 mass % in NMP) at T < 55 °C. The same was observed for the samples from fourth till sixth pseudo generation in melt at T > 70 °C. At all other experimental conditions used in this work these polymers show shear-thinning behaviour due to the high ability for the aggregation. Thermal stability of investigated HB polyesters increases with increasing number of the pseudo generation. The influence of the procedure for the synthesis and type of end groups on the properties of these polymers is discussed.

The thesis constitutes investigations from two distinct areas of research. One part deals with controlling and modulating the conformation of linear polymer in solution. Folding of a polymer chain has been achieved by utilising weak non-covalent interactions interaction like metal ion binding, charge-transfer complex formation and solvophobic effect in tandem. The second part of the thesis deals with synthesis and characterization of end-functionalized polymers prepared by melt-transesterification. The thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction on foldamers – a class of polymers that adopts an ordered conformation in solution and various approaches to obtain end-functionalized polymers. Chapter 2 describe the attempts to improve the association constant (based on earlier works reported by Ghosh and Ramakrishnan) between the external folding agent and the polymer repeat unit. The polymer used in this study constitutes an electron deficient pyromellitic dimide units (PDI) linked with a flexible oxyethylene glycol spacer. An electron rich dialkoxy naphthalene (DAN) serves as the folding agent which forms a charge-transfer (C-T) complexation with the electron deficient aromatic units (PDI) in the polymer backbone and effects the folding. The folding agent has the metal ion as its integral part and this aids the interaction between electron-deficient and electron-rich aromatic units by complexing with oxyethylene glycol spacer. Thus folding is due to the synergistic effect of C-T complex formation and metal ion binding. Further a new polymer with larger -surface area of electron acceptor units was prepared with naphthalene dimide (NDI) unit instead of PDI unit which is expected to show higher folding propensity. Chapter 3 explores the possibility of modulating the folding of the donor acceptor (D-A) polymer. A D-A polymer consist of adjacently placed DAN and PDI units linked by an oxyethylene glycol spacer. Folding of the D-A polymer is effected in the presence of suitable metal ion that binds to the oxyethyleneglycol spacer. Random copolymers with segments of alternately placed D-A pairs and segments that is devoid of D-A pairs were prepared. Depending on composition of the random copolymer, the stack length was shown to be modulated as evident from UV-visible and NMR titration experiments. Following a similar approach, a two step folding of the synthetic polymer was demonstrated. The synthesis and characterization of end functionalized polyesters by melt transesterification is discussed in chapter 4. Well defined linear polymer with propargyl group as the end functionalizable group is prepared by the polycondensation of AB type monomer whereas polycondensation of AB2 type monomer leads to peripherally functionalized hyperbranched polymer. Azide-alkyne ‘click’ reactions carried out at the chain end of linear polyester with fluorophores allowed the estimation of the molecular weight by UV-visible and fluorescence spectroscopic method which is compared with estimation from 1H-NMR. Similarly the glass-transistion temperature of hyperbranched polyester is modulated by the peripheral functionalization with various organic azides by ‘click’ reaction. Chapter 5 gives the conclusion and future directions based on the findings from the thesis work.