BIOINSPIRED” THYMINE CONTAINING POLYMERS: SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION

D. MARTINO; D. REYNA; D. ESTENOZ; J. WARNER

Rio de Janeiro

Congreso; 2nd Mercosur Congress on Chemical Engineering, 4th Mercosur Congress on Process Systems Engineering; 2005

Styrene based biopolymers containing thymine are experimental investigated. These polymers are similar to polystyrene (PS), with the addition of thymine and charged functional groups. Copolymers based on vinylbenzylthymine (VBT) and ionically charged monomers (vinylbenzyl triethylammonium chloride and vinylphenylsulfonic acid sodium salt) were synthesized to produce water-soluble polymers. Their structure mimics the DNA (“bioinspired”) and in the presence of UV light thymine undergoes a dimerization reaction, producing photoresist materials that are environmentally benign and biodegradable. The effects of the synthesis conditions (molar ratio between the comonomers, type of comonomers, monomer-to-solvent ratio, temperature of the reaction, residence time, etc.) on the solubility and photoreactivity of the material were studied. Samples were taken along the reactions to determine: monomer conversion and solubility by gravimetric analysis, and molecular weight distribution by Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC). VBT polymers were used to cast onto a compatible substrate (PET) and then irradiated with UV light at room temperature to produce crosslinking. The cured materials were characterized by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), UV-vis.