Lighting the Way to Greener Chemistry: Incandescent Floodlights as a Facile UV Light Source for Classic and Cutting-Edge Photoreactions

Abstract

While ultraviolet light is hailed for its renewability, nontoxicity, and lack of resulting waste products, photochemistry is relatively out of reach for many researchers and industries because conventional ultraviolet radiation sources are not always accessible. For example, the availability of sunlight varies with weather conditions, geographical location, and daylight duration. The use of commercial incandescent light as an alternative to conventional ultraviolet radiation was explored in this article. The classic [2 + 2] photocycloaddition of trans-cinnamic acid was tested under controlled conditions in the solid state, and it was found that 150 W light bulbs provided satisfactory results and 1.5 cm away from the light source was a viable distance for the photoreaction. A [2 + 2] cycloaddition of 10 mg trans-cinnamic acid finished in as few as 4 h. Gram-scale synthesis was also achieved in 40 h by using a 500 W floodlight bulb. The incandescent floodlight also effectively facilitated a cutting-edge photopolymerization in 24 h to produce a two-dimensional (2D) polymer. The use of reliable, inexpensive, and nonhazardous incandescent light in place of sunlight or even ultraviolet lamps for certain photoreactions will allow for the wider study and development of photochemistry.

Cyclobutane-1,3-Diacid (CBDA): A Semi-Rigid Building Block Prepared by [2+2] Photocyclization for Polymeric Materials

“…Both starting materials of the polymers, the diols and cinnamic acid, can be obtained from biomass 43 . While diols have been widely used in making plastics, cinnamic acid has found its applications in flavors, perfumes, synthetic indigo, and certain pharmaceuticals 39 .…”

Preparation of the flexible soybean oil‐based material via [2 + 2] cycloaddition photo‐polymerization

“…23 [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction, which has no by-products and pollution, is more conducive to the improvement of the environmental problems. 24,25 Moreover, no photoinitiator or catalyst is required during the reaction. Another point worthy of attention is that trans-CA can form a special structure containing flexible cyclobutane and rigid benzene ring groups through this reaction.…”

“…In addition, the volatility of trans‐CA is much lower than that of acrylic acid for it is solid state at room temperature 23 . [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction, which has no by‐products and pollution, is more conducive to the improvement of the environmental problems 24,25 . Moreover, no photoinitiator or catalyst is required during the reaction.…”

Furfural-Derived Diacid Prepared by Photoreaction for Sustainable Materials Synthesis

“…Malonic acid can also be produced directly from renewable sources, such as glucose or 3-hydroxyproponic acid. , FAA contains only one carboxylic acid group, which makes it unsuitable for classic polymerization. However, a [2 + 2] photoreaction has the ability to readily double the number of such a desired functional group. , …”