Fluorescent labeling of a narrow polydispersity high molecular weight polystyrene

Narrow polydispersity polystyrene with a molecular weight of 1.03 x 10(6) h as been functionalized with anthracene groups using the metallocene techniq ue. Side reactions such as chain coupling and bond scission can be limited by working in THF at -75 degrees C. Gel permeation chromatography combined with on-line viscometric, refractive index and fluorescence detection allow s us to verify that degradation did not exceed 1 bond scission/180 000 mono mer units. The degree of grafting increases with the reaction time but rema ins modest (<5% after 7 h) at low temperature.