Benzothiadiazole-Based Ordered Mesoporous Polymer as a Versatile, Metal-Free Heterogeneous Photocatalyst

Visible-light active heterogeneous organophotocatalysts have recently gained considerable interest in organic synthetic community. Ordered mesoporous polymers (OMPs) are highly promising as heterogeneous alternative to traditional precious metal/organic dyes-based photocatalysts. Herein, we report the preparation of a benzothiadiazole functionalized OMPs (BT-MPs) through a "bottom-up" strategy. High ordered periodic porosity, large surface area, excellent stability and rational energy-band structures guarantee the high catalytic activity of BT-MPs. As a result, at least six conversions, e. g., the [3+2] cycloaddition of phenols with olefins, the selective oxidation of sulfides, the C-3 thiocyanation of indole and the aminothiocyanation of beta-keto ester, could be promoted smoothly by BT-MPs. In addition, BT-MPs was readily recovered with well maintaining its photocatalytic activity and could be reused for at least eight times. This study highlights the potential of exploiting photoactive OMPs as recyclable, robust and metal-free heterogeneous photocatalysts. A benzothiadiazole-functionalized ordered mesoporous polymer (OMP) is synthesized by an evaporation induced self-assembly (EISA) approach, which is used as a versatile heterogeneous photocatalyst for a wide variety of organic transformations (six reactions). This work suggests a new avenue to develop photoactive OMPs as next generation of heterogeneous photocatalysts. image