LED and visible light-induced metal free ATRP using reducible dyes in the presence of amines

A new photoinitiating system involving electron acceptor dyes, namely, eosin Y and erythrosin B, in conjunction with alkyl halides and amines for photoinduced ATRP of (meth)acrylates and vinyl monomers in the absence of inorganic catalysts is reported. The polymerizations were efficiently activated by the photomediated redox processes to produce polymers with controlled chain end functionality and narrow molecular weight distribution. The dye/amine system was shown to be efficient under various colors of LED and industrially available visible light irradiation. The livingness nature of the polymerization was proved by GC analyses and the irradiation dependency of polymerization was confirmed by light on/off experiments.