Adamantane Functionalized Poly(2-oxazoline)s with Broadly Tunable LCST-Behavior by Molecular Recognition

Smart or adaptive materials often utilize stimuli-responsive polymers, which undergo a phase transition in response to a given stimulus. So far, various stimuli have been used to enable the modulation of drug release profiles, cell-interactive behavior, and optical and mechanical properties. In this respect, molecular recognition is a powerful tool to fine-tune the stimuli-responsive behavior due to its high specificity. Within this contribution, a poly(2-oxazoline) copolymer bearing adamantane side chains was synthesized via triazabicyclodecene-catalyzed amidation of the ester side chains of a poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline-stat-2-methoxycarbonylpropyl-2-oxazoline) statistical copolymer. Subsequent complexation of the pendant adamantane groups with sub-stoichiometric amounts (0–1 equivalents) of hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrin or β-cyclodextrin enabled accurate tuning of its lower critical solution temperature (LCST) over an exceptionally wide temperature range, spanning from 30 °C to 56 °C. Furthermore, the sharp thermal transitions display minimal hysteresis, suggesting a reversible phase transition of the complexed polymer chains (i.e., the β-cyclodextrin host collapses together with the polymers) and a minimal influence by the temperature on the supramolecular association. Analysis of the association constant of the polymer with hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrin via 1H NMR spectroscopy suggests that the selection of the macrocyclic host and rational polymer design can have a profound influence on the observed thermal transitions.