Catalyst-Free Spontaneous Polymerization with 100% Atom Economy: Facile Synthesis of Photoresponsive Polysulfonates with Multifunctionalities

Xiaolin Liu; Xin Liang; Yubing Hu; Lei Han; Qing Qu; Dongming Liu; Jing Guo; Zebing Zeng; Haotian Bai; Ryan T K Kwok; Anjun Qin; Jacky W Y Lam; Ben Zhong Tang

doi:10.1021/jacsau.0c00100

Catalyst-Free Spontaneous Polymerization with 100% Atom Economy: Facile Synthesis of Photoresponsive Polysulfonates with Multifunctionalities

JACS Au. 2021 Feb 19;1(3):344-353. doi: 10.1021/jacsau.0c00100. eCollection 2021 Mar 22.

Authors

Xiaolin Liu¹, Xin Liang², Yubing Hu¹, Lei Han^{1

2}, Qing Qu³, Dongming Liu⁴, Jing Guo⁵, Zebing Zeng⁵, Haotian Bai¹, Ryan T K Kwok^{1

6}, Anjun Qin⁴, Jacky W Y Lam^{1

6}, Ben Zhong Tang^{1

6

4

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, and Institute for Advanced Study, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
² College of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Qingdao Agricultural University, 700 Changcheng Road, Qingdao, Shandong 266109 China.
³ Nano Science and Technology Program and William Mong Institute of Nano Science and Technology, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong China.
⁴ Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, SCUT-HKUST Joint Research Institute, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China.
⁶ HKUST-Shenzhen Research Institute, No. 9 Yuexing first RD, South Area, Hi-tech Park, Nanshan, Shenzhen 518057, China.
⁷ AIE Institute, Guangzhou Development District, Huangpu, Guangzhou 510530, China.

Abstract

Photoresponsive polymers have attracted extensive attention due to their tunable functionalities and advanced applications; thus, it is significant to develop facile in situ synthesis strategies, extend polymers family, and establish various applications for photoresponsive polymers. Herein, we develop a catalyst-free spontaneous polymerization of dihaloalkynes and disulfonic acids without photosensitive monomers for the in situ synthesis of photoresponsive polysulfonates at room temperature in air with 100% atom economy in high yields. The resulting polysulfonates could undergo visible photodegradation with strong photoacid generation, leading to various applications including dual-emissive or 3D photopatterning, and practical broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. The halogen-rich polysulfonates also exhibit a high and photoswitched refractive index and could undergo efficient postfunctionalizations to further expand the variety and functionality of photoresponsive heteroatom-containing polyesters.