Urea-welded Anionic Vinyl-addition and Ring-opening Polymerizations for One-pot Hybrid Block Copolymer Synthesis

Heng Li; Ye-Ning Xia; Li-Jun Liu; Jun-Peng Zhao

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3823-2

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Urea-welded Anionic Vinyl-addition and Ring-opening Polymerizations for One-pot Hybrid Block Copolymer Synthesis

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-10-14

- Urea-welded Anionic Vinyl-addition and Ring-opening Polymerizations for One-pot Hybrid Block Copolymer Synthesis
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Pages: 1-8(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  a.Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
  b.College of Chemistry, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, China
  c.Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Luminescence from Molecular Aggregates, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
- Author bio：
  
  msjpzhao@scut.edu.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3823-2
  CLC：
- Received：14 June 2026，
  
  Accepted：20 July 2026，
  
  Online First：14 October 2026，
  
  Published：2026-09
- Accepted：
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Li, H.; Xia, Y. N.; Liu, L. J.; Zhao, J. P. Urea-welded anionic vinyl-addition and ring-opening polymerizations for one-pot hybrid block copolymer synthesis. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3823-2

Heng Li, Ye-Ning Xia, Li-Jun Liu, et al. Urea-welded Anionic Vinyl-addition and Ring-opening Polymerizations for One-pot Hybrid Block Copolymer Synthesis[J/OL]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 441-8.
Li, H.; Xia, Y. N.; Liu, L. J.; Zhao, J. P. Urea-welded anionic vinyl-addition and ring-opening polymerizations for one-pot hybrid block copolymer synthesis. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3823-2 DOI：

Heng Li, Ye-Ning Xia, Li-Jun Liu, et al. Urea-welded Anionic Vinyl-addition and Ring-opening Polymerizations for One-pot Hybrid Block Copolymer Synthesis[J/OL]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 441-8. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3823-2.

摘要

Abstract

Structural and functional diversity of block copolymers can be vastly expanded by combining carbon-chain and heterochain segments. However

options for one-pot controlled synthesis of such hybrid block copolymers remain scarce. Herein

we report a tandem anionic polymerization strategy that addresses this challenge. Classic anionic vinyl-addition polymerization of isoprene or styrene is performed first

followed by end-capping with ethylene oxide to generate a macromolecular lithium alkoxide. A

N’

-disubstituted (thio)urea is then introduced to interact with the alkoxide

creating an ionic initiating/catalytic system through exchange of proton and lithium cation. The

in situ

generated bifunctional catalytic species allows the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of the subsequently added

-caprolactone (CL) to occur with markedly enhanced selectivity. Well-defined hybrid block co- and ter-polymers are obtained even at full CL conversion. Urea with medium acidity (p

) and structural symmetr

y is shown optimal mediator to achieve both high efficiency and good control of the ROP step.

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references

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