Simple-structured copolymer, poly(NIPMAM-co-CPMA), consisting of N-isopropylmethacrylamide (NIPMAM) and (Z)-4-(1-cyano-2-(4-(dimethylamino) phenyl)vinyl)phenylmethylacrylate (CPMA) units as thermo- and pH-responsive fluorescent signaling parts, respectively, has been synthesized by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. The copolymer PCN250 (m/n = 250) shows absorbance enhancement or decrease at different pH value. However, the fluorescence intensity of this copolymer shows enhancement with a rise in temperature regardless of pH value in the range of pH = 4–10. In addition, fluorescence suppression of copolymer (PCN250) was observed with high proton concentration. Moreover, the lower critical solution temperature of the copolymers, poly-(NIPMAM-co-CPMA), with different component was also investigated. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012

A polymeric sensor (PTH) containing naphthalimide signal moiety and thiourea recognition moiety for the detection of anions was synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization, which can guarantee controllable molecular weight, narrow molecular weight distribution, and precise polymer structure. Both PTH and its corresponding monomer (TH) showed naked-eye recognizable yellow-to-orange changes upon addition of fluoride (F⁻), acetate (AcO⁻), and dihydrogen phosphate (H₂PO) of low concentration. However, only F⁻ can result in orange-to-purple change when the aforementioned anions were added at high concentrations, which was attributed to the deprotonation of the thiourea NH groups and the mechanism was supported by the UV-Vis absorption spectra and ¹H NMR titration. The effect of these anions on thin PTH films was also investigated, and the addition of F⁻ led to obvious spectra change. It was found that other halide anions (Cl⁻, Br⁻, and I⁻) could hardly induce any variation of absorption spectra. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 1551–1556, 2010