Photo-Degradable Functional Polyesters from an o-Nitrobenzyl Dithiol: Synthesis and Applications in Herbicide Delivery

Abstract

An o-nitrobenzyl dithiol and a group of diacrylates containing one or two functional groups were designed for facile synthesis of a series of linear photo-labile functional and heterobifunctional poly(β-thioester)s via thiol-ene click polymerization. These o-nitrobenzyl thioether-containing polyesters show excellent photo-degradation properties under UV light. Photoresponsive polymeric nanoparticles from a functional polyester exhibit good weeding performance as a herbicide delivery system. The possible photo-degradation mechanism of the polyesters was studied and proposed. The o-nitrobenzyl dithiol and its corresponding photo-labile polyesters could be used in smart drug or pesticide delivery, photo-labile graft copolymers synthesis, and even photolithography.