Kinetic investigations of light degradation can be effectively conducted on photochemically reactive polymers. By varying the location of photoactive sites or the frequency of their occurrence within a polymer, insight into structural effects on polymer degradation can be determined. The photoactive molybdenum dimer (?5-C5H5)2Mo2(CO)6 is an ideal candidate for a photoactive site as it contains a well characterized Mo-Mo bond that homolyzes under visible light. The two molybdenum radicals produced can subsequently be trapped with halides. The degradation of the molybdenum dimer can be followed by the carbonyl stretches using IR spectroscopy. Although having one degradation pathway simplifies analysis, the molybdenum dimer functionalization is difficult when producing non-linear polymers. This is because non-linear polymers require an asymmetric dimer to act as a building block in their synthesis. Manipulations with protecting groups as well as different synthetic schemes have allowed for the construction of non-linear polymers containing photosensitive bonds.

Incorporating photosensitive organometallics into non-linear polymers using an asymmetric dimer

248th National Meeting (2014)

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