Tailor‐Made Soluble Polymer Supports: Synthesis of a Series of ATRP Initiators Containing Labile Wang Linkers

A series of functional initiators for atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) was prepared. These structures contain an ATRP initiating site, a labile p‐alkoxybenzyl ester Wang linker and a functional end‐group (i.e., ? COOH, ? N₃, ? OH, ? C?CH, or ? NHFmoc). These novel initiators can be utilized for synthesizing well‐defined soluble polymer supports. For instance, the azide‐, alcohol‐, alkyne‐, and NHFmoc‐ derivatives were tested as initiators for the bulk ATRP of styrene. SEC, MALDI‐TOF‐MS, and NMR measurements indicated that well‐defined polystyrene samples with defined end‐groups have been synthesized in this process. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the labile Wang linkers could be easily cleaved with a mild trifluoroacetic acid treatment.