2-hydroxy-3-(1-(4-vinylbenzyl)imidazol-3-ium-3-yl)propane-1-sulfonate and 3-(4-vinylbenzyl)dimethylammonio)-2-hydroxypropane-1-sulfonate as New Zwitterionic Monomers

Zwitterionic polymers emerge as very useful materials for applications in antifouling surfaces. The properties of these polymers can be tuned by variation of the chemical structure of the corresponding monomer. In this study, two zwitterionic ammonium sulfonate monomers bearing an hydroxyl function and a styrenic polymerizable groups were prepared in two steps. The two monomers were obtained using 4-vinylbenzyl chloride as the key precursor. The zwitterionic monomers were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, IR spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). These two monomers enable the preparation of novel zwitterionic polymers with enhanced hydrophilicity due to the presence of a hydroxyl group.