Self-Immolative Chemiluminescence Polymers: Innate Assimilation of Chemiexcitation in a Domino-like Depolymerization

Self-immolative polymers are distinctive materials able to disassemble in a domino-like mechanism from head-to-tail upon a triggering event induced by an external stimulus. We have developed an effective molecular method to intrinsically assimilate a chemiluminescence turn-ON mechanism with a domino-like fragmentation mechanism. A unique molecular unit was synthesized, which could combine the abilities of executing the duel function of quinone-methide elimination and chemiexcitation. Incorporation of this unit as a monomer, results with the first class of stimuli-responsive self-immolative polymers with amplified chemiluminescence output. Responsive groups for various analytes were introduced as a head-trigger during the polymer synthesis. The polymers were demonstrated as chemiluminescence probes for detection of different chemical analytes. The obtained polymers were able to amplify the intensity and the duration of the light emission signal by factors correlated to their length. We anticipate that the chemiluminescence self-immolative polymers described here will find use for various research topics such as signal amplification, light-emitting new materials, and molecular probes with long-lasting light emission and imaging capabilities.