Poly(3-ethyl-3-oxetanemethanol) could be used as a core to synthesize amphiphilic hyperbranched polyethers (AHPs), which have multiple linear poly-(ethylene glycol) arms. The AHPs owned good dispersion performance for coating pigment particles. Among AHP's products, AHP47 with 0.47 DB had good potential in coating applications. can also be used to synthesize azobenzene-focused hyperbranched poly(3- ethyl-3-oxetanemethanol)[1-2].
3-Ethyl-3-oxetanemethanol was prepared by a modified procedure described in the literature. A mixture of trimethylopropane (1, 26.8 g, 0.2 mol), diethyl carbonate (23.6 g, 0.2 mol) and potassium hydroxide (0.1 g, 1.8 mmol) in 2 ml absolute ethyl alcohol was refluxed in oil bath at 110?C for 1 h. Then, the mixture was distilled at 110?C for 1 h. Distillation was continued until the temperature of oil bath reached 140?C. After the distillation, the vacuum was supplied for 1 h to remove the excess solvent. On heating above 185?C, the distilled materials were collected in a cold trap under vacuum and obtained >85% of the theoretical yield. 1H-NMR (CDCl3, δ, ppm): 0.80–0.83 (t, 3H, –CH2CH3), 1.61–1.66 (q, 2H, –CH2CH3), 3.62 (s, 2H, –CH2OH), 3.66 (s, 1H, –CH2OH), 4.31–4.32 and 4.38–4.39 (d, 4H, –CH2O).
[1] Q. Xu. “Synthesis and properties of amphiphilic hyperbranched polyethers as pigment dispersant.” IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 216 1 (2018).
[2] Xu, Youqian et al. “Hierarchical self-assembly of protoporphyrin IX-bridged Janus particles into photoresponsive vesicles?.” RSC Advances 37 (2016): 31053–31058.
