Depolymerizable polymers are polymers that degrade in a controlled manner, unzipping to generate small molecules. We aim to design depolymerizable polymers that can be triggered to unzip to generate gases that are reactive and/or bioactive, in some cases enabling further depolymerization (self-amplification). For example, in the case of poly(thiourethanes), computational methods are used to predict monomers with strong driving forces for polymerization, and their polymerization is carried out such that the resulting polymers contain various functional groups on the chain-end to trigger depolymerization. One such end group is the aryl azide unit, which can be reduced by tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine or H<sub>2</sub>S to the corresponding aniline, resulting in depolymerization (i.e., self-immolation) and the release of carbonyl sulfide (COS). Enzymatic conversion of COS into H<sub>2</sub>S can then led to further depolymerization in a self-amplification pathway. Polymer micelles that include depolymerizable blocks can also enable self-amplification of the depolymerization event. As a result, only a single triggering event on one polymer chain-end leads to depolymerization of an entire micelle core.

Self-Amplified Depolymerization of Polythiourethanes

ACS Spring 2022

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