Photo-degradable materials have seen increasing applications and production over the past few decades; however, due to the negative environmental impacts of the plastics industry, scientists have recently been driven to develop sustainable alternatives to current petroleum-based photo-responsive systems. Herein, we present the development of a new photo-degradable polyester resulting from the homopolymerization of o-hydroxycinnamic acid, a naturally occurring small molecule. The resulting material, poly(o-hydroxycinnamic acid), is able to undergo controlled backbone cleavage through a unique intramolecular transesterification reaction resulting from a photo-induced isomerization. The proposed degradation pathway is studied via proton NMR, high-performance liquid chromatography, a small molecule control study, and an “on”/”off” photo-regulation control study. These experiments demonstrate that upon exposure to UV light, poly(o-hydroxycinnamic acid) undergoes controlled degradation over the period of 96 hours, leading to the formation of coumarin.

Development and analysis of a photodegradable polyester with sustainable origins: Poly(o-hydroxycinnamic acid)

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.