Design of ketone derivatives as highly efficient photoinitiators for free radical and cationic photopolymerizations and application in 3D printing of composites

Herein, thirteen ketone derivatives composed of different cyclohexanone cores and peripheral moieties are designed, among which 10 ketones have never been synthesized before. These ketones are proposed as high-performance photoinitiators for both free radical polymerizations and cationic polymerizations under soft conditions (visible LED@405 nm irradiation at room temperature). In combination with an amine and an iodonium salt (Iod), these ketones could be used in three-component photoinitiating systems to initiate the free radical polymerization of acrylates with distinct final conversions, among which the ketone-1/amine/Iod combination proved to be the most efficient one. Besides, the ketone-1/Iod two-component system also showed a remarkable photoinitiation ability for the cationic polymerization of epoxides. The photochemical sensitivity of ketone-1 in the presence of an amine and an iodonium salt was systematically investigated by steady state photolysis and excited state fluorescence quenching characterizations, respectively. Interestingly, macroscopic 3D patterns with excellent spatial resolution could be generated using the ketone-1/amine/Iod photoinitiating system for the free radical polymerization of acrylates. This high performance is also found useful to overcome the light penetration issue for the access to filled samples (silica) and the preparation of composites.