Preparation of crosslinked poly(2-bromoethyl methacrylate) microspheres and decoration of their surfaces with functional polymer brushes

Synthesis and crosslinking copolymerization of 2-bromoethylmethacrylate in aqueous suspension is described for preparing bromoalkyl-functional microbeads (125-420 μm). Highly transparent microspheres with a density of accessible bromoethyl groups of 1.55 mmol . g^-1 were prepared in the suspension, stabilized with poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone), by using methyl methacrylate as diluting co-monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as crosslinker. Bromoalkyl groups on the microparticles were employed as initiation sites for either surfaceinitiated ATRP of glycidyl methacrylate or ringopening polymerization of 2-methyl-2-oxazoline to generate epoxy- and N-acetylethyleneiminefunctional hairy grafts, tethered to the particle surfaces with hydrolytically stable linkages.