Conjugated Cross-linked Phenothiazines as Green or Red Light Heterogeneous Photocatalysts for Copper-Catalyzed Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Using the power of light to drive controlled radical polymerizations has provided significant advances in synthesis of well-defined polymers. Photoinduced atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) systems often employ UV light to regenerate copper activator species to mediate the polymerization. Taking full advantage of long-wavelength visible light for ATRP would require developing appropriate photocatalytic systems that engage in photoinduced electron transfer processes with the ATRP components to generate activating species. Herein, we developed conjugated microporous polymers (CMP) as heterogeneous photocatalysts to exploit the power of visible light in promoting copper-catalyzed ATRP. The photocatalyst was designed by cross-linking phenothiazine (PTZ) as a photoactive core in the presence of dimethoxybenzene as a cross-linker via the Friedel–Crafts reaction. The resulting PTZ-CMP network showed photoactivity in the visible region due to the extended conjugation throughout the network because of the aromatic groups connecting the PTZ units. Therefore, photoinduced copper-catalyzed ATRP was performed with CMPs that regenerated activator species under green or red light irradiation to start the ATRP process. This resulted in efficient polymerization of acrylate and methacrylate monomers with high conversion and well-controlled molecular weight. The heterogeneous nature of the photocatalyst enabled easy separation and efficient reusability in subsequent polymerizations.