Data for: Versatile synthesis of siloxane-based graft copolymers with tunable grafting density

A versatile synthetic platform is reported that affords high molecular
weight graft copolymers containing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) backbones
and vinyl-based side chains with excellent control over molecular weight
and grafting density. The synthetic approach leverages thiol–ene click
chemistry to attach an atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP)
initiator to a variety of commercially available
poly(dimethylsiloxane-co-methylvinylsiloxane) (PDMS-co-PVMS), followed by
controlled radical polymerization with a wide scope of vinyl monomers.
Selective degradation of the siloxane backbone with tetrabutylammonium
fluoride confirmed the controlled nature of side-chain growth via radical
polymerization, yielding targeted side-chain lengths for copolymers
containing up to 50% grafting density and overall molecular weights in
excess of 1 MDa. In addition, by using a mixture of thiols, grafting
density and functionality can be further controlled by tuning initiator
loading along the backbone. For example, solid-state fluorescence of the
graft copolymers was achieved by incorporating a thiol-containing
fluorophore along the siloxane backbone during the thiol–ene click
reaction. This simple synthetic platform provides facile control over the
properties of a wide variety of grafted copolymers containing flexible
PDMS backbones and vinyl polymer side chains.