Panchromatic Copper Complexes for Visible Light Photopolymerization

Alexandre Mau (1) , Guillaume Noirbent (2) , Céline Dietlin (1) , Bernadette Graff (1) , Didier Gigmes (2) , Frédéric Dumur (2) , Jacques Lalevée (2)

1 IS2M - Institut de Science des Matériaux de Mulhouse
2 ICR - Institut de Chimie Radicalaire

In this work, eleven heteroleptic copper complexes were designed and studied as photoinitiators of polymerization in three-component photoinitiating systems in combination with an iodonium salt and an amine. Notably, ten of them exhibited panchromatic behavior and could be used for long wavelengths. Ferrocene-free copper complexes were capable of efficiently initiating both the radical and cationic polymerizations and exhibited similar performances to that of the benchmark G1 system. Formation of acrylate/epoxy IPNs was also successfully performed even upon irradiation at 455 nm or at 530 nm. Interestingly, all copper complexes containing the 1,1′-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene ligand were not photoluminescent, evidencing that ferrocene could efficiently quench the photoluminescence properties of copper complexes. Besides, these ferrocene-based complexes were capable of efficiently initiating free radical polymerization processes. The ferrocene moiety introduced in the different copper complexes affected neither their panchromatic behaviors nor their abilities to initiate free radical polymerizations.

Mots clés: copper complex; ferrocene; photopolymerization; visible light; photoinitiators; free radical polymerization; heteroleptic complexes

Domaines: Chimie de coordination; Polymères

Alexandre Mau, Guillaume Noirbent, Céline Dietlin, Bernadette Graff, Didier Gigmes, et al.. Panchromatic Copper Complexes for Visible Light Photopolymerization. Photochem, 2021, 1 (2), pp.167 - 189. ⟨10.3390/photochem1020010⟩. ⟨hal-03315099⟩