Polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs), originally developed by Neil McKeown and coworkers, are a relatively new class of porous polymers. In contrast to other organic porous polymers which are typically insoluble networks, PIMs are two-dimensional and thus retain the solubility and processability of traditional linear polymers. PIMs retain their porosity by means of a rigid backbone structure consisting of inflexible spiro monomers, making them potentially useful in catalysis, fuel storage, organic nanofiltration, or pervaporation. As previously reported in our group, photo-tunable azo functional groups were incorporated into a PIM backbone via reductive coupling of a dinitro monomer. Photo-switchability was confirmed by UV-Vis and NMR spectroscopy, but only modest molecular weights were achieved using this synthetic method. Herein, we report a new synthetic route to azo PIMs via nucleophilic substitution reactions. Characterization of the polymer, including its structural dynamics and inherent surface area, will be discussed.

Polymers of intrinsic microporosity with photoswitchable azo functional groups

255th National Meeting (2018)

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