Amphiphilic Multi-Arm Star-Block Copolymers for Encapsulation of Fragrance Molecules

✍ Scribed by Céline Ternat; Georg Kreutzer; Christopher J. G. Plummer; Tuan Q. Nguyen; Andreas Herrmann; Lahoussine Ouali; Horst Sommer; Wolfgang Fieber; Maria Inés Velazco; Harm-Anton Klok; Jan-Anders E. Månson

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 369 KB
• Volume: 208
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1022-1352
• DOI: 10.1002/macp.200600449

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Novel amphiphilic multi‐arm star‐block copolymers with a hyperbranched core, a hydrophobic inner shell, and a hydrophilic outer shell have been prepared from a commercial hyperbranched polyester macroinitiator by ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone, followed by atom transfer radical polymerization of tert‐butyl acrylate (__t__BuA). Hydrolysis of the tert‐butyl groups was then used to convert the poly(__t__BuA) blocks to poly(acrylic acid), resulting in stable amphiphilic core‐shell structures with significantly higher degrees of functionality than reported so far in the literature. A strong correlation between the maximum concentration of selected hydrophobic guest molecules and the concentration of amphiphilic star‐block copolymer in aqueous solution was observed by ^1^H NMR, demonstrating the capacity of these copolymers to encapsulate and disperse significant loadings (up to about 27 wt.‐%) of volatile hydrophobic molecules such as fragrances in water.

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