Aggregation behavior of amphiphilic phthalocyanine block copolymers

Novel amphiphilic poly(norbornene)s were prepared from two different monomers bearing a copper phthalocyanine and a branched hydrophilic side chain through a ring-opening metathesis reaction using a ruthenium initiator. The phthalocyanine moieties were contained as a side chain of the resulting poly-(norbornene) backbone. The aggregation behavior of the amphiphilic phthalocyanine diblock copolymer was investigated by a monolayer experiment at a water-air interface, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The copolymer formed organized films at a water-air interface by using pure water as the subphase. Furthermore, 8 in an alkaline aqueous solution formed spherical micelles observed by TEM and AFM.