Stimuli responsive polymers have unique properties and are increasingly used in numerous applications. Various stimuli such as pH, temperature, and in our case, light can be used to bring about the desired effect. We have successfully developed a class of photodegradable polymers, based on the alkoxyphenacyl photoactive unit, which undergoes chain scission to small molecules and oligomers in a photo-Favorski type rearrangement, providing a fast, mild, and controlled method for polymer degradation. These new photodegradable polymers can degrade into methanol soluble species upon 300 nm irradiation. This behavior has the potential for various applications such as photolithography, drug delivery, and so on.

Photodegradable and biodegradable alkoxyphenacyl based polymers

244th National Meeting (2012)

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