ERROR 1
ERROR 1
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
Password and Confirm password must match.
If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)
ERROR 2
ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.
By using the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon dye perylene as a visible-light photocatalyst, chemists at the University of Colorado, Boulder, have developed a metal-free controlled radical polymerization method (Macromolecules 2014, DOI: 10.1021/ma502044f). Decomposing peroxide or azo compounds with ultraviolet light is a classic method for initiating free-radical polymerizations. In an effort to develop more energy efficient approaches, researchers have turned to photoredox systems that use visible light. These efforts usually require a transition-metal complex to activate an alkyl halide to form radicals and initiate the polymerization chain reaction. One problem with this method is that residual metal in the polymer can interfere in biomedical or electronic applications. Garret M. Miyake and Jordan C. Theriot used visible light to stimulate perylene to directly reduce alkyl bromides without an added sacrificial electron donor to generate radicals for the polymerization of acrylates and styrene.
Join the conversation
Contact the reporter
Submit a Letter to the Editor for publication
Engage with us on Twitter