In Situ Monitoring of RAFT Polymerization by Tetraphenylethylene-Containing Agents with Aggregation-Induced Emission Characteristics

Shunjie Liu; Yanhua Cheng; Haoke Zhang; Zijie Qiu; Ryan T K Kwok; Jacky W Y Lam; Ben Zhong Tang

doi:10.1002/anie.201803268

In Situ Monitoring of RAFT Polymerization by Tetraphenylethylene-Containing Agents with Aggregation-Induced Emission Characteristics

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2018 May 22;57(21):6274-6278. doi: 10.1002/anie.201803268. Epub 2018 Apr 23.

Authors

Shunjie Liu^{1

2}, Yanhua Cheng^{1

2}, Haoke Zhang^{1

2}, Zijie Qiu^{1

2}, Ryan T K Kwok^{1

2}, Jacky W Y Lam^{1

2}, Ben Zhong Tang^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National, Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, Division of Life Science and Division of Biomedical Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
² HKUST-Shenzhen Research Institute, No.9 Yuexing 1st RD, South Area, Hi-tech Park, Nanshan, Shenzhen, 518057, China.
³ NFSC Center for Luminescence from Molecular Aggregates, SCUT-HKUST Joint Research Institute, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China.

PMID: 29633451
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201803268

Abstract

A facile and efficient approach is demonstrated to visualize the polymerization in situ. A group of tetraphenylethylene (TPE)-containing dithiocarbamates were synthesized and screened as agents for reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerizations. The spatial-temporal control characteristics of photochemistry enabled the RAFT polymerizations to be ON and OFF on demand under alternating visible light irradiation. The emission of TPE is sensitive to the local viscosity change owing to its aggregation-induced emission characteristic. Quantitative information could be easily acquired by the naked eye without destroying the reaction system. Furthermore, the versatility of such a technique was well demonstrated by 12 different polymerization systems. The present approach thus demonstrated a powerful platform for understanding the controlled living radical polymerization process.

Keywords: aggregation-induced emission; in situ visualization; photochemistry; polymerization; tetraphenylethylene.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't