Nonspecific interactions in polymer-polymer reactions—2. Complex formation between polymethacrylic acid and monosubstituted poly(ethylene glycols)

✍ Scribed by V. Baranovsky; S. Shenkov; I. Rashkov; G. Borisov

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1991
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 341 KB
• Volume: 27
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0014-3057
• DOI: 10.1016/0014-3057(91)90149-i

✦ Synopsis

A~tract--Complex formation between poly(methacrylic acid) and monosubstituted poly(ethylene glycols) (PEG) in dilute aqueous solutions has been studied by potentiometric titration and viscometry. The presence of a hydrophobic group in the PEG chain results in a significant decrease of the critical chain length of PEG, necessary for the formation of stable complexes. The higher stability of these polycomplexes is determined by additional reduction in the free energy of the system because of nonspecific interaction of the hydrophobic group with the hydrophobic domains of the polycomplex. Complex formation with PEGs, carrying various hydrophobic groups, strongly suggests that these nonspecific interactions are of general character, irrespective of the chemical nature of the group. Such phenomena might also be important in the reactions of biopolymers in living organisms.