Photo-Degradable Functional Polyesters from an <i>o</i>-Nitrobenzyl Dithiol: Synthesis and Applications in Herbicide Delivery
Pengfei Shan, Daai Li, Wen Lu, Weilin Lu, Xiangping Yin, Xiaoyue Lian, Yingwen Lu, Yuxi Qi, Ming Zhang, Kaicheng Du, Guoquan Ma, Xuehao Wen, Xin Ge, Jiabin Jiang, Zhihui Li, Zhongyu Li
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. Photo-responsive 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.