Synthesis and characterization of star-shaped polytetrahydrofuran

Star polymers of tetrahydrofuran (polyTHF) were prepared by reaction of living polyTHF with diethylene triamine (DETA) in the presence of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine (TMP) as proton trap. The influence of several reaction parameters on the end-capping reaction was studied in order to produce stars having varying number of arms. With a starting living polyTHF with a molecular weight of 1600, star-shaped polymers containing up to seven polymer chains could be prepared. When the molecular weight of the living polyTHF was 8000, at most five polymer chains could be grafted on the DETA. Some physical properties of the star polymers were compared with those of their linear counterparts of the same molecular weight.