Expanding the Scope of Chemiluminescence Promoted Photopolymerizations

Lauren Bishop, Brent Sumerlin

University of Florida

Photopolymerizations have many advantages over thermal polymerizations, such as mild reaction conditions, enhanced specificity, and spatiotemporal control. However, one notable drawback to photopolymerization is light attenuation, which limits the ability to scale up reactions. We reasoned that one way to overcome the limited penetration of light is to utilize chemiluminescence (CL) to irradiate from the inside-out instead of the conventional route that relies on external light source to irradiate from the outside-in. Our work builds on the success of CL-promoted photopolymerizations by exploring the efficacy of this strategy for initiating photoiniferter and photoinduced electron/energy transfer (PET)-RAFT polymerizations. Photoiniferter polymerizations were conducted using blue CL in a biphasic system. PET-RAFT polymerizations were conducted using green CL in a two-pot system. Current efforts involve overcoming challenges surrounding CL, such as limited time and intensity of luminesce. Reaction conditions and procedures have been varied to optimize the luminescence output. Future work will focus on designing an inverse miniemulsion system to further maximize the surface area of reaction solution experiencing direct light exposure.