Structural characterization of a poly(methacrylic acid)–poly(methyl methacrylate) copolymer by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry

Mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) have been combined to achieve the complete microstructural characterization of a poly(methacrylic acid)–poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMAA–PMMA) copolymer synthesized by nitroxide-mediated polymerization. Various PMAA–PMMA species could be identified which mainly differ in terms of terminaisons. 1H and 13C NMR experiments revealed the structure of the end-groups as well as the proportion of each co-monomer in the copolymers. These end-group masses were further confirmed from m/z values of doubly charged copolymer anions detected in the single stage mass spectrum. In contrast, copolymer composition derived from MS data was not consistent with NMR results, obviously due to strong mass bias well known to occur during electrospray ionization of these polymeric species. Tandem mass spectrometry could reveal the random nature of the copolymer based on typical dissociation reactions, i.e., water elimination occurred from any two contiguous MAA units while MAA–MMA pairs gave rise to the loss of a methanol molecule. Polymer backbone cleavages were also observed to occur and gave low abundance fragment ions which allowed the structure of the initiating end-group to be confirmed.