Combinatorial techniques, parallel experimentation and high‐throughput methods represent a very promising approach in order to speed up the preparation and investigation of new polymeric materials: a large variety of parameters can be screened simultaneously resulting in new structure/property relationships. The field of polymer research seems to be perfectly suited for parallel and combinatorial methods due to the fact that many parameters can be varied during synthesis, processing, blending as well as compounding. In addition, numerous important parameters have to be investigated, such as molecular weight, polydispersity, viscosity, hardness, stiffness and other application‐specific properties. A number of corresponding high‐throughput techniques have been developed in the last few years and their introduction into the commercial market further boosted the development. These combinatorial approaches can reduce the time‐to‐market for new polymeric materials drastically compared to traditional approaches and allow a much more detailed understanding of polymers from the macroscopic to the nanoscopic scale. Here we provide an overview of the present status of combinatorial and parallel polymer synthesis and high‐throughput screening.magnified image

The synthesis of terpyridine-functionalized polystyrene was achieved by reacting 4‘-chloro-2,2‘:6‘,2‘ ‘-terpyridine (terminating agent) with “living” polymeric carbanions synthesized by anionic polymerization. The obtained polymers were characterized by gel permeation chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry, elemental analysis, and ultraviolet−visible absorption spectroscopy. The conversion of the polystyryllithium species into the corresponding 1,1-diphenylalkyllithium chain ends by reaction with 1,1-diphenylethylene (DPE) was a necessary step in order to promote an efficient chain-end functionalization and to avoid undesired side reactions (coupling) between the polymer chains due to the high reactivity of the polystyryl anion. Moreover, the obtained well-defined terpyridine-terminated polystyrenes were used for the synthesis of self-assembled metallo-supramolecular block copolymers.

No abstract