Triblock copolymers (MPEG-b-PCEMA-b-PHQHEMA) bearing cinnamoyl and 8-hydroxyquinoline side groups with different block length are synthesized by a two-step reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization of cinnamoyl ethyl methacrylate (CEMA) and 2-((8-hydroxyquinolin-5-yl)methoxy)ethyl methacrylate (HQHEMA), respectively. The self-assembly of MPEG-b-PCEMA-b-PHQHEMA in mixture of THF and ethanol is investigated by varying the ratio of THF and ethanol. Spheric micelles with diameter of 63.7 nm and polydispersity of 0.128 are obtained for MPEG₁₁₃-b-PCEMA₁₅-b-PHQHEMA₁₇ in THF/ethanol with a volume ratio (v/v) of 5/5. The PCEMA inner shell of the resulted micelles is photo-crosslinked under UV radiation to give stabilized micelles. The complex reaction of the stabilized micelles with Zn(II) is investigated under different conditions to give zinc(II)-bis(8-hydroxyquinoline)(Znq₂)-containing micelles. When the complex reaction is carried out in THF/ethanol (v/v = 5/5) or THF/toluene (v/v = 6/4) with zinc acetate, fluorescent Znq₂-containing micelles are obtained without obvious change in diameters and morphologies. The fluorescent micelles exhibit green emission with λ_max at 520 nm. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016, 54, 1056–1064

The dispersion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) with fluorescent monomer tris[2-((8-hydroxyquinolin-5-yl)methoxy)ethyl methacrylate]aluminium (Al-HQHEMA) was investigated to obtain fluorescent microspheres under varying conditions (such as composition of dispersion medium, and content of stabilizer polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and Al-HQHEMA) in methanol–water at 70 °C with 2,2′-azoisobutyronitrile as the initiator. Fluorescent microspheres with particle size of 2.039 µm and uniformity of 0.171 were obtained under the following conditions: methanol–water, 7:3 (v/v); PVP, 15 wt% of MMA; Al-HQHEMA solution, 1.5 mL. Maleic monoester of monomethoxyl poly(ethylene glycol) (Mal-MPEG) was used as a comonomer to simultaneously incorporate carboxyl groups and PEG chains. With Mal-MPEG, no aggregation was observed in the measurements of particle size and size distribution for the obtained microspheres after cleaning off PVP, indicating that self-stabilized fluorescent microspheres were obtained. While without Mal-MPEG, obvious aggregation was observed. The determination of surface carboxyl content using aqueous acid–base titration showed that most of the carboxyl groups of Mal-MPEG were located on the surface of the microspheres. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry

Chiral poly(p-phenylenevinylene-alt-m-phenylenevinylene)s bearing (−)-trans-myrtanoxyl groups on the p-phenylene rings were synthesized by Wittig's reaction and Heck's reaction, respectively, namely Myr-PMPV-w and Myr-PMPV-h correspondingly. The chiroptical properties of the polymers were investigated in chlorobenzene solution by circular dichroism. The results showed that both Myr-PMPV-w and Myr-PMPV-h showed no Cotton effect due to their irregular molecular structure. By the treatment with I₂, most of the cis-vinylene linkages in Myr-PMPV-w were converted to trans-vinylenes, consequently, the structure of Myr-PMPV-w became much more regular, and the resulting polymer (iso-Myr-PMPV-w) showed strong bisignate Cotton effects in the π–π* transition. Compared to its analogous poly(p-phenylenevinylene) (PPV) (iso-Myr-PPV-w), iso-Myr-PMPV-w showed much stronger Cotton effect, its maximum g value was about one order of magnitude higher than that of iso-Myr-PPV-w under the same conditions. With increasing concentration and decreasing temperature, the g_max value of iso-Myr-PMPV-w increased, and the maximum absorption was slightly blue-shifted, but the shape and range of absorption curves did not changed significantly, and no clear isosbestic point could be observed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 3336–3343, 2008