Smart Alkoxyamines: A New Tool for Smart Applications

In 1986, Rizzardo et al. discovered the nitroxide-mediated polymerization which relies on the reversibility of homolysis of the C-ON bond of alkoxyamine R¹R²NOR³, a unique property of these molecules. This discovery has generated a tremendous endeavor in the field of polymer chemistry. Alkoxyamines have been used as initiators/controllers for nitroxide-mediated polymerization. Moreover, photoexcitable alkoxyamines that dissociate under light at different wavelengths have also been developed for polymer chemistry. Over the past few years, alkoxyamines have started to be used in materials sciences. In many cases (e.g., self-healing polymers), the development of smart materials requires the use of smart building blocks, that is, molecules or systems whose properties and/or structures change upon external stimuli. Alkoxyamines exhibit a unique property: reversible homolysis (i.e., homolysis of the C-ON bond into alkyl R³• and nitroxyl R¹R²NO• radicals and reformation via the coupling of these two species). Until now, this property has been controlled only by changes in temperatures or by light irradiation. Chemical and/or biochemical control of the homolysis event would open new gates for the application of these molecules in different fields such as biology and medicine. Thus, the concept of smart alkoxyamines is discussed and exemplified via the activation of alkoxyamines using chemical or/and biochemical changes amplifying the polar, steric, and stabilization effects. In situ activation is also discussed. It is shown that (i) increasing the electron-withdrawing properties of the alkyl fragment weakens the C-ON bond and thus favors homolysis but is opposite for the nitroxyl fragment; (ii) increasing the steric hindrance on the nonactive site affords dramatic conformation changes which weaken the C-ON bond; and (iii) increasing the stabilization of the released alkyl radical weakens the C-ON bond. Solvent effects and intramolecular hydrogen bonding are also discussed. Reactions used to highlight our purpose are either reversible or nonreversible and used under conditions that are as mild as possible (temperatures below 40 °C and atmospheric pressure). For example, a several (thousands of millions of) millions of orders of magnitude enhancement of the homolysis rate constant is observed upon enzymatic hydrolysis at 37 °C, meaning that a shift from a stable alkoxyamine (t_1/2 = 42 000 milleniums) to a highly labile alkoxyamine (t_max = 1500 s for 35% conversion) is achieved. Applications of this concept are discussed for safe NMP initiators and for theranostic agents.