Poly(glycidyl methacrylate): a highly versatile polymeric building block for post-polymerization modifications

The treatment of poly(glycidyl methacrylate) with nucleophilic agents yielded new linear homo/co-polymers. The materials obtained have different physicochemical properties depending upon the nucleophiles utilized and thus, by this way, water soluble polymers are easily accessible. This approach is also very convenient for the synthesis of amphiphilic block copolymers. Additional chemical modifications can further transform the obtained polymers after the post-polymerization treatment. Starting from RAFT pre-synthesized/pre-functionalized polymers, the described procedures allow us to obtain a wide variety of chemically diverse materials characterized by controlled structure and specific functions.