New terpyridine macroligands as potential synthons for supramolecular assemblies

A Williamson type etherification approach was applied for the reaction of 4′-chloro-2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine with a number of well-defined mono- and bis-hydroxy functionalized polymers, namely poly(tetrahydrofuran), poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) and Pluronics®. The resulting terpyridine functionalized polymers were characterized by 1H NMR spectroscopy and SEC, as well as MALDI-TOF-MS demonstrating the successful functionalization. This type of end-functionalized chelating macromolecules could be considered as key candidates for the preparation of metallo-supramolecular polymers via metallo-terpyridine complexation; the principle feasibility was demonstrated by UV–vis titration of iron(II) chloride to bis-terpyridine functionalized poly(tetrahydrofuran).