Solvent and oxygen effects on the free radical polymerization of 6-O-vinyladipoyl-d-glucopyranose

The vinyl ester-type glycomonomer 6-O-vinyladipoyl-d-glucopyranose was polymerized in water and alcohol solutions. In all cases, long polymerization times were necessary to achieve reasonable conversions. Depending on the nature of the solvent, polydisperse glycopolymers were obtained possessing a molecular weight ranging between 10,000 and 122,000 Da (PS equivalent). Higher alcohols appeared to act as chain transfer agents and oligomers with DPn between 2 and 6 were indeed obtained when 2-propanol was the solvent. Also, thorough oxygen removal from the reaction mixture proved to be essential for the success of the experiment, plain nitrogen sparging being ineffective in most cases.