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Oxidatively degradable polystyrene: general strategy for the introduction of functional groups into the main chains of vinyl polymers

Polymer Journal (2026)Cite this article

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Abstract

Degradable polymers have degradable functional groups in the main chains. To introduce functional groups into the main chains of polystyrene—a typical vinyl polymer whose main chain consists only of carbon—radical copolymerization of styrene with a bifunctional monomer bearing diacylhydrazine as the functional group was carried out in the presence of a chain-transfer agent or excess initiator to avoid gelation. Soluble polystyrene whose main chain was functionalized by diacylhydrazine in an internally connected manner was obtained by controlling the concentration of the chain transfer agent or the initiator. The oxidation of the obtained polystyrene yielded an oligomer via oxidative degradation of the diacylhydrazine moiety in the main chain.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 20H04372.

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  1. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Kanagawa University, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

    Kouhei Kajiwara & Nobuhiro Kihara

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Correspondence to Nobuhiro Kihara.

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Kajiwara, K., Kihara, N. Oxidatively degradable polystyrene: general strategy for the introduction of functional groups into the main chains of vinyl polymers. Polym J (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-026-01143-y

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