Study on photodynamic and photoresponsive azo polyelectrolytes

Several kinds of novel azobenzene-containing polyelectrolytes with special molecular design have been developed from acryloyl chloride or epoxy based precursor polymers. The acryloyl chloride based precursor polymer, poly(acr yloyl chloride), was prepared by free radical polymerization of acryloyl ch loride. The azo polyelectrolytes were prepared by an esterification reactio n between the precursor polymer and corresponding azo chromophores containi ng a reactive hydroxyl group, followed by hydrolysis of the unreacted acyl chloride groups. The epoxy based precursor polymer was prepared by the reac tion between 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol diglycidyl ether and aniline, and po stfunctionalized by azo coupling reaction to form azo polymers containing c hromophores with ionizable groups. The polyelectrolytes were characterized by elemental analysis, H-1-NMR, IR and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The photodynami c and photoresponsive properties, as well as self-assembly of these azo pol yelectrolytes are reported in this paper([1]).