Effective Utilization of NIR Wavelengths for Photo-Controlled Polymerization: Penetration Through Thick Barriers and Parallel Solar Syntheses

Zilong Wu; Kenward Jung; Cyrille Boyer

doi:10.1002/anie.201912484

Effective Utilization of NIR Wavelengths for Photo-Controlled Polymerization: Penetration Through Thick Barriers and Parallel Solar Syntheses

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2020 Jan 27;59(5):2013-2017. doi: 10.1002/anie.201912484. Epub 2019 Dec 12.

Authors

Zilong Wu¹, Kenward Jung¹, Cyrille Boyer¹

Affiliation

¹ Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design, Australian Centre for Nanomedicine, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.

PMID: 31692178
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201912484

Abstract

This contribution details an efficient and controlled photopolymerization regulated by far-red (λ=680 nm) and NIR (λ=780 and 850 nm) light in the presence of aluminium phthalocyanine and aluminium naphthalocyanine. Initiating radicals are generated by photosensitization of peroxides affording an effective strategy that provides controlled polymerization of a variety of monomers with excellent living characteristics. Critically, long wavelength irradiation provides penetration through thick barriers, affording unprecedented rates of controlled polymerization that can open new and exciting applications. Furthermore, a more optimized approach to performing solar syntheses is presented. By combining the narrow Q-bands of these photocatalysts with others possessing complementary absorptions, layered, independent polymerizations and organic transformations may be performed in parallel under a single broadband emission source, such as sunlight.

Keywords: NIR; photochemistry; photopolymerization; reversible-deactivation radical polymerization; solar synthesis.