Abstract
A synthetic trefoil knotted poly(e-caprolatone)Â block-poly(L-lactide) (TK-PLA-b-PCL) is
synthesized via a ring expansion strategy from a trefoil knotted tin (Sn) initiator. Ring closing
reaction between the bis-copper(!) templated phenanthro line complex and dibutyldimethoxytin
results in a templated trefoil knotted initiator. The bis-copper(!) templated trefoil knotted
poly(L-lactide) (TK-PLA) can be synthesized by ring-opening polymerization of L-lactide monomer,
and decomplexation reaction of the templated TK-PLA will result in a geniune TK-PLA without
constraint from the copper template. Subsequent insertion of e caprolactone in the bis-copper(!)
templated TK-PLA forms the templated trefoil knotted block copolymer, i.e., TK-PLA-b-PCL, and the
copper-free TK-PLA-b-PCL can be obtained by decomplexation reaction. Both TK-PLA and TK-PLA-b-PCL
are analyzed by the 1 H NMR, FT-IR, UV-vis, DLS, and GPC.
