Probing the first steps of photoinduced free radical polymerization at water-oil interfaces

Abstract

Phosphanoyl radicals, produced by α-photocleavage of exclusively octane-soluble acylphosphane oxides, rapidly react with both water- and octane-soluble monomers in water-in-octane microemulsions. The presented mechanistic insights open the possibility for the tailored construction of photo-generated copolymers comprising polar and non-polar blocks at the same time.