Metal-Catalyzed Switching Degradation of Vinyl Polymers via Introduction of an “In-Chain” Carbon–Halogen Bond as the Trigger

In this work, we achieved switching degradation of vinyl polymers made of a carbon-carbon bonded backbone. Crucial in this strategy was a small feed of methyl α-chloroacrylate (MCA) as the comonomer in radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) so that the carbon-halogen bonds were introduced as the triggers for degradation. The "in-chain" trigger was activated by a one-electron redox metal catalyst as the chemical stimulus to generate...