Hybrid Catalyst-Driven New Prospects for Sequence Regulation in Polymer Science

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: Hybrid Catalysis for Enabling Molecular Synthesis on Demand
• Project/Area Number: 17H06453
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Science and Engineering
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Ouchi Makoto 京都大学, 工学研究科, 教授 (90394874)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-06-30 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 高分子合成 / 配列 / ワンポット合成 / 変換 / 共重合 / 触媒

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We have succeeded in synthesizing sequence-controlled polymers composed of commodity repeating monomer units, such as (meth)acrylate, acrylamide, styrene, via (co)polymerization of special monomers (bulky monomers or divinyl monomers) carrying transformable bonds in the pendant. The monomer design allows the alternating propagation as well as the one-pot transformation, leading to syntheses of a series of sequence-controlled polymers with various side-chain substituents from one polymerization. Consequently, we have clarified the great impacts of sequence on physical properties, such as glass transition temperature, thermoresponsiveness, and liquid crystalline behavior, through comparison with non-sequence-controlled polymers having the same composition ratio.

Free Research Field

高分子

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

タンパク質やDNAなどの天然高分子は繰り返し単位の並び方，すなわち配列を制御し，配列に基づいて構造を形成し，機能を発現している。一方，合成高分子に対しては，分子量，末端基，立体規則性などの構造因子の制御が実現されてきたが，配列を制御するのは難しかった。我々は本研究で，特殊な構造を側鎖に有するモノマーを用いて配列を制御し，さらに重合の後に酸加水分解，アルコリシス反応，アミノリシス反応をワンポットで行うことで，汎用モノマーから成る配列制御高分子の合成手法を開発した。さらに配列特異的な物性を明らかにし，合成高分子においても配列が重要な構造因子であること，高分子材料の新たな設計指針を提示した。