Living Chain-growth Polymerization <italic style="font-style: italic">via</italic> C―S Bond Cleavage

Xin-Yu Liang; Ye-Cheng Zhu; Hai-Gen Xiong; Fu-Jun Guo; Wen-Bin Xie; Qin-Qin Shi; Hui Huang

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3733-3

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Living Chain-growth Polymerization via C―S Bond Cleavage

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-09-23

- Living Chain-growth Polymerization via C―S Bond Cleavage
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Issue 10, Pages: 3308-3313(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  a.College of Materials Science and Opto-Electronic Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101408, China
  b.School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering and Low-Carbon Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
  c.The International Joint Institute of Tianjin University, Fuzhou 350205, China
- Author bio：
  
  xiewenbin@ucas.ac.cn (W.B.X.)
  shiqinqin@ucas.ac.cn (Q.Q.S.)
  huihuang@tju.edu.cn (H.H.)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3733-3
  CLC：
- Received：26 December 2025，
  
  Accepted：29 April 2026，
  
  Online First：02 July 2026，
  
  Published：05 October 2026
- Accepted：
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Liang, X. Y.; Zhu, Y. C.; Xiong, H. G.; Guo, F. J.; Xie, W. B.; Shi, Q. Q.; Huang, H. Living chain-growth polymerization via C―S bond cleavage. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 3308–3313

Xin-Yu Liang, Ye-Cheng Zhu, Hai-Gen Xiong, et al. Living Chain-growth Polymerization via C―S Bond Cleavage[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(10): 3308-3313. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-026-3733-3.
Liang, X. Y.; Zhu, Y. C.; Xiong, H. G.; Guo, F. J.; Xie, W. B.; Shi, Q. Q.; Huang, H. Living chain-growth polymerization via C―S bond cleavage. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 3308–3313 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3733-3.

Xin-Yu Liang, Ye-Cheng Zhu, Hai-Gen Xiong, et al. Living Chain-growth Polymerization via C―S Bond Cleavage[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(10): 3308-3313. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-026-3733-3. DOI：

摘要

Nickel-catalyzed living chain-growth polymerization

via

C―S bond cleavage was developed using aryl sulfides as monomers. This strategy enabled the controlled synthesis of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) with

up to 12.1 kDa and regioregularity up to 96%.

Abstract

Conjugated polymers are indispensable materials in organic optoelectronics. Living chain-growth polymerization has emerged as a promising strategy for synthesizing conjugated polymers with narrow polydispersity indices. To date

the majority of living chain-growth polymerization protocols have relied on Kumada-type cross-coupling reactions using aryl halides as monomers. Herein

we developed a nickel-catalyzed living chain-growth polymerization method based on carbon–sulfur bond activation

employing aryl sulfides as monomers

which enabled the synthesis of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) with a regioregularity exceeding 95%. Kinetic studies confirmed the chain-growth mechanism of the polymerization

while steric hindrance and electronic effects were found to play important roles in regulating the polymerization behavior.

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⁰

Living Chain-growth Polymerization via C―S Bond Cleavage

DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3733-3

摘要

Abstract

关键词

Keywords

references