Functionalization of polyesters with multiple B vitamins

A method to covalently attach combinations of six different B vitamins provided an avenue to new functional thermosets without multi-step coupling reactions. The melt polymerization strategy required no organic solvent and facilitated covalent attachment of OH (B-1, B-2, B-5, B-6) or COOH (B-7, B-9) groups on B vitamins via Fischer esterification. Characterization of model reactions with LC/MS, FTIR, and GPC confirmed covalent attachment. Based on control experiments, B vitamins demonstrated unexpected thermal stability and appreciable solubility in the melt polymerization. This approach was demonstrated with citric acid and diglycerol, but has wide-ranging potential for other polar monomers with negative octanol-water partition coefficients (LogP). (c) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 3308-3316