Organocatalyzed atom transfer radical polymerization driven by visible light

Jordan C Theriot; Chern-Hooi Lim; Haishen Yang; Matthew D Ryan; Charles B Musgrave; Garret M Miyake

doi:10.1126/science.aaf3935

Organocatalyzed atom transfer radical polymerization driven by visible light

Science. 2016 May 27;352(6289):1082-6. doi: 10.1126/science.aaf3935. Epub 2016 Mar 31.

Authors

Jordan C Theriot¹, Chern-Hooi Lim², Haishen Yang¹, Matthew D Ryan¹, Charles B Musgrave³, Garret M Miyake⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
² Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
³ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
⁴ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. garret.miyake@colorado.edu.

PMID: 27033549
DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf3935

Abstract

Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) has become one of the most implemented methods for polymer synthesis, owing to impressive control over polymer composition and associated properties. However, contamination of the polymer by the metal catalyst remains a major limitation. Organic ATRP photoredox catalysts have been sought to address this difficult challenge but have not achieved the precision performance of metal catalysts. Here, we introduce diaryl dihydrophenazines, identified through computationally directed discovery, as a class of strongly reducing photoredox catalysts. These catalysts achieve high initiator efficiencies through activation by visible light to synthesize polymers with tunable molecular weights and low dispersities.

Publication types

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