%0 Journal Article %A Jiang, Yu %A Zhang, Zhen %A Wang, De %A Hadjichristidis, Nikos %D 2018 %T An Efficient and General Strategy toward the Synthesis of Polyethylene-Based Cyclic Polymers %U https://acs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/An_Efficient_and_General_Strategy_toward_the_Synthesis_of_Polyethylene-Based_Cyclic_Polymers/6141482 %R 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b00333.s001 %2 https://acs.figshare.com/ndownloader/files/11086253 %K novel strategy %K PE chain %K Initial studies %K triblock tadpole copolymers %K ring-opening polymerization %K General Strategy %K ROP %K gel permeation chromatography %K alkynyl groups %K scanning calorimetry %K resonance spectroscopy %K diblock cyclic %K Polyethylene-Based Cyclic Polymers %K BH 3 %K cyclic structure %K PE-based cyclic block copolymer architectures %K cyclic PE %K block copolymers %K ω positions %K cyclic homo %X A novel strategy toward well-defined polyethylene-based cyclic homo/copolymers is presented. Tris­(3-(anthracen-9-yl­methoxy)­propyl)­borane, prepared by hydroboration of 9-((allyloxy)­methyl)­anthracene with BH3, was used to initiate the polyhomologation of dimethyl­sulfoxonium methylide to afford well-defined anthracene-teminated linear polyethylene (PE). The azido and alkynyl groups at α and ω positions of the PE chain were introduced via the anthracene/maleimide Diels–Alder (D–A) reaction and esterification, respectively. Subsequent intramolecular “click” cyclization of the α,ω-hetero­functionalized linear PE gave cyclic PE. Combining this efficient strategy with ring-opening polymerization (ROP), more complex PE-based cyclic block copolymer architectures have been designed and synthesized, such as diblock cyclic and triblock tadpole copolymers. All intermediates and final products were characterized by high-temperature gel permeation chromatography, proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry. Initial studies on the thermal behavior of the cyclic homo- and block copolymers revealed the big influence of the cyclic structure on the melting temperature and crystallinity as compared to their corresponding precursors. %I ACS Publications