One pot synthesis and self-assembly of methylene blue-backboned polymers

Studies of methylene blue-backboned polymers (MBPs) are hindered by the limited availability of polymerization methods. Herein, we developed an oxidative polymerization method to produce MBPs. The polymerization is performed in aqueous medium, and is organic solvent-free, heavy metal-free, time-efficient (on a timescale of minutes), and does not need pre-formed methylene blue chromophores. The effects of the alkyl chains of the MBPs on the photophysical properties and self-assembly behavior (e.g., vesicles and nanorings) are significant, which highlights the possibility of controlling the MBP properties via rationally tailoring the functionality of the MBP monomers prior to polymerization. Importantly, the self-assembly structures can be predicted using the dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulation method.