Interlocking degradation of vinyl polymers via main‐chain CC bonds scission by introducing pendant‐responsive comonomers

Abstract

Abstract Degradation of vinyl polymers remains a challenge because of the robust main‐chain CC bonds. In this study, we designed novel pendant‐responsive comonomers with a carbon–halogen bond, which can be copolymerized with vinyl monomers to enable facile degradation of the CC backbone upon triggering stimulus. The comonomer unit was designed to induce interlocking degradation, that is, it first generates side‐chain radical upon trigger, subsequently provides a main‐chain radical via intramolecular 1,5‐shift, and then finally causes the main‐chain cleavage via β ‐scission. A remarkable decrease in molecular weight was observed when the obtained copolymer was treated with a copper catalyst, and the effect of polymer structure was assessed on the interlocking degradation behavior.