Octa-armed star-shaped poly(ε-caprolactone)s with a phthalocyanine core by ring-opening polymerization: Synthesis and characterization

• Octa-armed star-shaped poly(ε-caprolactone)s with a phthalocyanine core were synthesized.
• Viscosity properties of the 8SPCLs were investigated.
• The aggregation and fluorescence properties of 8SPCL3 were studied.
• Temperature and frequency dependent AC electrical conductivities of 8SPCLs were evaluated.
• Thermal properties of 8SPCLs were identified by DSC and TGA.

A series of hydroxyl-terminated octa-armed star-shaped poly(ε-caprolactone)s (8SPCL1–3, represented as 5, 6 and 7, respectively) with an initiator core of 2,3,9,10,16,17,23,24-octakis(3-hydroxypropylmercapto)phthalocyaninatozinc(II) (4) was synthesized by the ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone using tin(II) 2-ethylhexanoate as the catalyst. The obtained star-shaped polymers were characterized by FT-IR, 1H NMR, GPC and UV–vis spectroscopy. The measured intrinsic viscosities of all polymers were used to calculate the number-average molecular weight. The fluorescence of polymers 5–7 was studied. The changes in the visible spectra of 7 were investigated by increasing the concentration and adding methanol and cations such as Ag+, Hg2+, or Pb2+. The electrical conductivities of the polymers measured in vacuum and in air were between ∼10−9 and 10−6 S m−1. DSC and polarized optical microscopy techniques were used to evaluate the crystalline behavior of 5–7. The thermal stability of 5–7 was investigated by TGA.

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