Design of Novel Photoinitiators for Radical and Cationic Photopolymerizations under Near UV and Visible LEDs (385, 395, and 405 nm)

Recent Advances on Furan-Based Visible Light Photoinitiators of Polymerization

Photopolymerization is an active research field enabling to polymerize in greener conditions than that performed with traditional thermal polymerization. At present, a great deal of effort is devoted to developing visible light photoinitiating systems. Indeed, the traditional UV photoinitiating systems are currently the focus of numerous safety concerns so alternatives to UV light are being actively researched. However, visible light photons are less energetic than UV photons so the reactivity of the photoinitiating systems should be improved to address this issue. In this field, furane constitutes an interesting candidate for the design of photocatalysts of polymerization due to its low cost and its easy chemical modification. In this review, an overview concerning the design of furane-based photoinitiators is provided. Comparisons with reference systems are also established to demonstrate evidence of the interest of these photoinitiators in innovative structures.

High-Performance Photoinitiating Systems for LED-Induced Photopolymerization

Currently, increasing attention has been focused on light-emitting diodes (LEDs)-induced photopolymerization. The common LEDs (e.g., LED at 365 nm and LED at 405 nm) possess narrow emission bands. Due to their light absorption properties, most commercial photoinitiators are sensitive to UV light and cannot be optimally activated under visible LED irradiation. Although many photoinitiators have been designed for LED-induced free radical polymerization and cationic polymerization, there is still the issue of the mating between photoinitiators and LEDs. Therefore, the development of novel photoinitiators, which could be applied under LED irradiation, is significant. Many photoinitiating systems have been reported in the past decade. In this review, some recently developed photoinitiators used in LED-induced photopolymerization, mainly in the past 5 years, are summarized and categorized as Type Ⅰ photoinitiators, Type Ⅱ photoinitiators, and dye-based photoinitiating systems. In addition, their light absorption properties and photoinitiation efficiencies are discussed.

Fused Carbazole–Coumarin–Ketone Dyes: High Performance and Photobleachable Photoinitiators in Free Radical Photopolymerization for Deep Photocuring under Visible LED Light Irradiation

In this work, three dyes based on fused carbazole–coumarin–ketone structures were designed and synthesized. These dyes were named CCK–Me, CCK–Ph, and CCK–Tol in accordance with their different substituents. Their excellent...

Macrocyclic Photoinitiator Based on Prism[5]arene Matching LEDs Light with Low Migration

In this work, a naphthalene-based macrocycle prism[5]arene (NP₅ OCH₃ ) is developed as a novel kind of photoinitiator. When NP₅ OCH₃ is irradiated under light, the bond between methylene and naphthalene can be quickly broken owning to the existence of ring tension. The macrocycle is cleaved to linear oligomer biradicals, which can effectively initiate the free radical photopolymerization of acrylate monomers. Compared with conventional photoinitiators, NP₅ OCH₃ has strong light absorption in the wavelength range of 365-405 nm, so it can well match the environment-friendly light-emitting diodes (LEDs) light source to realize highly efficient initiation. In addition, there is no small molecule fragment generated during NP₅ OCH₃ fracture, and the resulted linear oligomer biradicals can be immobilized in the polymer after initiating polymerization, so NP₅ OCH₃ photoinitiators show much lower migration rate and cytotoxicity. Cleavable macrocycle prismarene may provide a new idea for the design of safe and efficient photoinitiators matching long wavelength light.

Recent Advances in bis-Chalcone-Based Photoinitiators of Polymerization: From Mechanistic Investigations to Applications

Over the past several decades, photopolymerization has become an active research field, and the ongoing efforts to develop new photoinitiating systems are supported by the different applications in which this polymerization technique is involved-including dentistry, 3D and 4D printing, adhesives, and laser writing. In the search for new structures, bis-chalcones that combine two chalcones' moieties within a unique structure were determined as being promising photosensitizers to initiate both the free-radical polymerization of acrylates and the cationic polymerization of epoxides. In this review, an overview of the different bis-chalcones reported to date is provided. Parallel to the mechanistic investigations aiming at elucidating the polymerization mechanisms, bis-chalcones-based photoinitiating systems were used for different applications, which are detailed in this review.

N-Aryl glycines as versatile initiators for various polymerizations

N-(1-Pyrenyl)glycine can act as a versatile initiator for various polymerizations.

Substituent Effects on Photoinitiation Ability of Monoaminoanthraquinone-Based Photoinitiating Systems for Free Radical Photopolymerization under LEDs

Three monoamino-substituted anthraquinone derivatives (AAQs), that is, 1-aminoanthraquinone (AAQ), 1-(methylamino)anthraquinone (MAAQ), and 1-(benzamido)anthraquinone (BAAQ), incorporated with various additives [e.g., triethanolamine (TEAOH) and phenacyl bromide (PhC(═O)CH₂ Br)] are investigated for their roles as photoinitiating systems of free radical photopolymerization of (meth)acrylate monomers upon the exposure to UV to green LEDs. The AAQs-based photoinitiating systems, AAQ/TEAOH/PhC(═O)CH₂ Br and BAAQ/TEAOH/PhC(═O)CH₂ Br photoinitiators exhibit the highest efficiency for the free radical photopolymerization of DPGDA under the irradiation of blue LED and UV LED, respectively, which is consistent with the extent of overlap between their absorption spectra and the emission spectra of the LEDs. AAQ/TEAOH/PhC(═O)CH₂ Br photoinitiator can also initiate the free radical photopolymerization of different (meth)acrylate monomers, with an efficiency dependent on the chemical structures of these monomers.

A monocomponent bifunctional benzophenone–carbazole type II photoinitiator for LED photoinitiating systems

A bifunctional benzophenone–carbazole-based photoinitiator (BPC) was designed from its molecular structure viewpoint.

Photo-curing kinetics of hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA): synergetic effect of dye/amine photoinitiator systems

The aim of this study is to examine and evaluate several dye/amine systems as photoinitiators for photopolymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) monomer under visible light conditions. For this purpose, a series of dye/amine photoinitiators were formed using methylene blue (MB) or acridine orange (AO) as photosensitizers, and triethanolamine (TEOA), ethyl 4-(dimethylamino) benzoate (EDMAB), trioctylamine (TOA), and N,N-diméthylallylamine (DMAA) as co-initiators. The photopolymerization kinetic of the HEA monomer in the presence of proposed dye/amine systems was performed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis and the synergetic effect of the dye/amine photoinitiators systems on the photopolymerization efficiency was examined. Interestingly, (MB/EDMAB) system shows the better reactivity with a total conversion of HEA monomer.

Curcuminoid-Based Difluoroboron Dyes as High-Performance Photosensitizers in Long-Wavelength (Yellow and Red) Cationic Photopolymerization

Difluoroboron β-diketonate dyes are reported to exhibit excellent photophysical properties (e.g., broad absorption and large extinction coefficients) and have the potential to act as high-performance photosensitizers in cationic photopolymerization (CP). In this study, four curcuminoid-based difluoroboron dyes (BF₂ Curs) are prepared. Their ability to initiate the CP of epoxides or vinyl ethers in combination with an iodonium salt under yellow and red LEDs is investigated. Some of the BF₂ Curs-based photoinitiating systems exhibit much higher efficiencies than the reported anthraquinone derivative Oil Blue N (OBN). The molecular structure of BF₂ Curs is found to play a critical role in the photoinitiating efficiencies of cationic polymerization.

Substituted stilbene-based oxime esters used as highly reactive wavelength-dependent photoinitiators for LED photopolymerization

Different substituents on stilbene-based oxime esters play an important role in the relationship between their structure and properties.

Strategies for Red-Shifting Type I Photoinitiators: Internal Electric Fields versus Lewis Acids versus Increasing Conjugation

Time-dependent density functional theory calculations were performed on derivatives of Irgacure 2959, a water-soluble, acetophenone-type photoinitiator, in order to assess the relative merits and drawbacks of three distinct ways of modifying its photochemistry: Lewis acid complexation, changing the amount of conjugation in the molecule, and application of an internal electric field through inclusion of a remote charged functional group. The effectiveness of each of the three methods was evaluated against the magnitude of the change in energy of the excited states. Internal electric fields were shown to provide the best method for targeting specific excited states in a controlled and rational manner. The other strategies also had significant effects but it was more difficult to independently target different transitions. Nonetheless, for the specific case of Irgacure 2959, we predict that its complexation with Mg2+ ions in a range of solvents will both red-shift the initiator’s absorbance while improving its efficiency and it is thus a promising candidate for testing as a visible light photoinitiator.

Diphenyl sulfone-based A–π-D–π-A dyes as efficient initiators for one-photon and two-photon initiated polymerization

Diphenyl sulfone-based symmetrical A–π-D–π-A dyes as efficient initiators for one-photon and two-photon initiated polymerization.

Visible Light Induced Cationic Polymerization of Epoxides by Using Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

The visible light induced cationic polymerization of epoxides can be achieved by means of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), which act as visible light photoinitiators via a radical-induced cationic photopolymerization process. When MWCNTs are irradiated with longer wavelengths (above 400 nm), they generate carbon radicals, by means of hydrogen abstraction from the epoxy monomer; these radicals are oxidized in the presence of iodonium salt to a carbocation that is sufficiently reactive to start the cationic ring-opening polymerization of an epoxy monomer. These mechanisms have been supported by electron paramagnetic resonance analysis.

Photocatalysis in organic and polymer synthesis

This review, with over 600 references, summarizes the recent applications of photoredox catalysis for organic transformation and polymer synthesis. Photoredox catalysts are metallo- or organo-compounds capable of absorbing visible light, resulting in an excited state species. This excited state species can donate or accept an electron from other substrates to mediate redox reactions at ambient temperature with high atom efficiency. These catalysts have been successfully implemented for the discovery of novel organic reactions and synthesis of added-value chemicals with an excellent control of selectivity and stereo-regularity. More recently, such catalysts have been implemented by polymer chemists to post-modify polymers in high yields, as well as to effectively catalyze reversible deactivation radical polymerizations and living polymerizations. These catalysts create new approaches for advanced organic transformation and polymer synthesis. The objective of this review is to give an overview of this emerging field to organic and polymer chemists as well as materials scientists.