Amphiphilic polymers are an important class of macromolecules as they have characteristics similar to those of surfactant micelles: they are capable of binding lowmolecular-weight molecules through hydrophobic as well as electrostatic interac-tions1s2). These polymers are generally assumed to form intramolecular micelles through aggregation of hydrophobic groups3). As interest aroused in molecular assemblies such as micelles and liposomes as artificial energy conversion systems4~'), amphiphilic polymers have a potential of being similarly exploited.In the present study we prepared copolymers from hydrophobic 2-(6-tert-butyl-2naphthoxy)ethyl methacrylate (1) and hydrophilic N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (VP) and examined their fluorescence probe binding characteristics so as to gain an insight into the role of the hydrophobic tert-butylnaphthoxy (tBN) chromophores in adsorption of low-molecular-weight substrates and subsequent excitation energy transfer thereto. The advantage of using a fluorescence probe, e. g. 6-@-toluidino) 2-naphthalenesulfonate (TNS), lies in its binding to the hydrophobic region of the polymer, easily seen by the appearance of its fluorescence, and in its efficient quenching of the tBN fluorescence, when adsorbed to the vicinity of the tBN moiety, giving sensitized fluorescence. n 1 Experimental part 6-fert-Butyl-2-naphtho1, prepared according to the literature6), was treated with 2-chloroethanol in ethanol in the presence of sodium to give 2-(6-tert-butyl-2-naphthoxy)ethanol. The latter was converted to its methacrylic ester by esterification using methacryloyl chloride and butyllithium in diethyl ether. Copolymerization of 1 with VP was carried out in tetrahydrofuran (THF) at 60°C using 2,2'-azoisobutyroNtrile as initiator. After repeated precipitation from THF by diethyl ether, the polymer composition was determined spectroscopically using the absorption coefficient of the 1 residues, %3011m = 2000 I-mol-' acm-l (in THF). The molecular weights of the copolymers were determined with a Hewlett Packard high-speed 0173-2803/84/$01 . OO
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