Aromatic hyperbranched polymers, such as hyperbranched poly(ether sulfone), are promising catalytic materials, but the advantages of the hyperbranched structure have not been well understood. In this study, hyperbranched poly(ether sulfone), functionalized with sulfonic acid terminal groups (HBSPES) and its linear analogue (LSPES), were studied as acid catalysts for a model reaction, namely, the esterification of 1-butanol and acetic acid. In the homogeneous catalytic reaction, HBSPES showed a clear advantage in the apparent turnover frequency (TOF). To utilize these polymers as heterogeneous catalysts, they were immobilized onto carbon black (CB) to obtain HBSPES/CB and LSPES/CB. The polymer loading after immobilization was higher with HBSPES/CB, probably due to the dense architecture of the hyperbranched polymer. In the heterogeneous catalytic reaction, HBSPES/CB exhibited a much better catalytic performance than LSPES/CB, possibly benefiting from the good affinity of the hyperbranched polymer to the reaction solution. These experimental observations suggest that aromatic hyperbranched polymers are suitable for use as catalysts.

芳香族超支化聚合物，例如超支化聚醚砜，是很有前途的催化材料，但是超支化结构的优点尚未得到很好的理解。在这项研究中，研究了用磺酸端基（HBSPES）和其线性类似物（LSPES）官能化的超支化聚醚砜作为酸催化剂，用于模型反应，即1-丁醇和乙酸的酯化反应。在均相催化反应中，HBSPES在表观周转频率（TOF）方面显示出明显的优势。为了将这些聚合物用作非均相催化剂，将它们固定在炭黑（CB）上以获得HBSPES / CB和LSPES / CB。HBSPES / CB固定后的聚合物负载较高，这可能是由于超支化聚合物的致密结构所致。在非均相催化反应中，HBSPES / CB表现出比LSPES / CB更好的催化性能，这可能得益于超支化聚合物对反应溶液的良好亲和力。这些实验观察表明，芳族超支化聚合物适合用作催化剂。