Solution-processable stilbene alternating copolymers for
This technology describes a method for making a specific class of alternating copolymers — plastics where two different chemical building blocks reliably alternate along the chain like links in a chain-link fence — from substituted stilbenes and maleic anhydride. The key practical advance is that the resulting polymer stays uniformly dissolved in the reaction solvent at a workable, low viscosity, which matters enormously for processing and coating applications. The stilbene component carries two different chemical groups (asymmetric substitution), giving chemists a toolkit to tune the final polymer's properties — such as solubility, thermal behavior, or reactivity — by swapping those groups. Maleic anhydride-based alternating copolymers are already commercially used in adhesives, coatings, and drug delivery excipients, and this method extends that family with new structural variants.
What you could build
A specialty polymer intermediate sold to formulators of functional coatings, adhesives, or controlled-release pharmaceutical excipients who need tunable, solution-processable alternating copolymers; buyers would be specialty chemical companies and pharma excipient suppliers.
Who in Virginia should care
Specialty chemical manufacturers or contract research organizations in Virginia's Research Triangle adjacent corridor, or pharmaceutical excipient suppliers near the D.C. biotech cluster, would be natural partners.
Readiness: Lab validated
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Sam Richard TURNER, Richard David GANDOUR, Chanelle J. BROWN, Anna STEELE, John B. MATSON
- Granted
- July 15, 2025
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 12359008
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.