Photomediated controlled radical polymerization is a versatile method to prepare, under mild conditions, various well-defined polymers with complex architecture, such block and graft copolymers, sequence-controlled polymers, or hybrid materials via surface-initiated polymerization. It also provides opportunity to manipulate the reaction through spatiotemporal control. This review presents a comprehensive account of the fundamentals and applications of various Photomediated CRP techniques, including atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT), nitroxide mediated polymerization (NMP) and other procedures. In addition, mechanistic aspects of other photomediated methods are discussed.

Photoinduced metal-free atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate was investigated using several phenothiazine derivatives and other related compounds as photoredox catalysts. The experiments show that all selected catalysts can be involved in the activation step, but not all of them participated efficiently in the deactivation step. The redox properties and the stability of radical cations derived from the catalysts were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry. Laser flash photolysis (LFP) was used to determine the lifetime and activity of photoexcited catalysts. Kinetic analysis of the activation reaction according to dissociative electron-transfer (DET) theory suggests that the activation occurs only with an excited state of catalyst. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed the structures and stabilities of the radical cation intermediates as well as the reaction energy profiles of deactivation pathways with different photoredox catalysts. Both experiments and calculations suggest that the activation process undergoes a DET mechanism, while an associative electron transfer involving a termolecular encounter (the exact reverse of DET pathway) is favored in the deactivation process. This detailed study provides a deeper understanding of the chemical processes of metal-free ATRP that can aid the design of better catalytic systems. Additionally, this work elucidates several important common pathways involved in synthetically useful organic reactions catalyzed by photoredox catalysts.

Spatial and temporal regulations of ATRP by external stimuli are presented. Various ATRP techniques, eATRP, photoATRP, and mechanoATRP, are controlled by electrical current, light, and mechanical forces, respectively. Conversely, ARGET and SARA ATRP are controlled by chemical reducing agents. ICAR ATRP is a thermally regulated process through decomposition of a radical initiator. The aim of this review is to highlight the use of external regulations in ATRP and to summarize the state-of-the-art and future perspectives, focusing on mechanistic aspects, synthetic procedures, preparation of polymers with complex architectures and functional materials, and their applications.

Photoinduced metal-free atom transfer radical polymerization has been successfully extended to the synthesis of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) with predictable molecular weights and low dispersities. This was achieved using phenothiazine derivatives as photoredox catalysts, which activate dormant alkyl bromides to reversibly form propagating radicals. Both 1H NMR spectroscopy and chain-end extension polymerization show highly preserved Br chain-end functionality in the synthesized PAN.

Photoinduced ATRP was successfully performed in aqueous media. Polymerization of oligo(ethylene oxide) methyl ether methacrylate (OEOMA) in the presence of CuBr2 catalyst and tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine ligand when irradiated with visible light of 392 nm wavelength at 0.9 mW/cm(2) intensity was well controlled. Linear semi-logarithmic kinetic plots and molecular weights increasing with conversion were observed. Polymers of OEOMA were synthesized with low dispersity (Mw/Mn = 1.12) using only 22 ppm of copper catalyst in the presence of excess bromide anions in highly diluted (90% v/v) aqueous media. The effects of copper concentration, salt, and targeted degrees of polymerization were investigated. The polymerization could be directly regulated by external stimulation, i.e., switching the irradiation on/off, with a good retention of chain-end functionality, as proved by clean chain extension of the OEOMA polymers. This new system could enable applications for controlled aqueous radical polymerization due to its low catalyst loading in the absence of any other chemicals.