A series of well-defined azobenzene-functionalized ionomers were produced via ring-opening metathesis polymerization of norbornene-dicarboximide tethered to an ionic group further connected with an azobenzene unit in ionic liquid. The corresponding azobenzene-containing non-ionic polymers were also synthesized by the similar method. All the polymerizations were confirmed to be the characteristic of living based on the linear relationship between molecular weight and feed ratio. As expected, the distinct photoresponsive properties from azobenzene units in ionomers were observed under alternating irradiation of UV and visible light, which cannot be achieved by traditional azobenzene-containing non-ionic polymers. The ability and efficiency of trans−cis photoisomerization was depressed to some extent due to the presence of ionic groups nearby azobenzene units. Moreover, the sizes and morphologies of these ionomers can be modulated through changing the number of the methylene spacer to generate regular and uniform spherical nanostructures, ultimately leading to the unique photoisomerization behaviors. All these interesting results will not only provide a facile and efficient method for constructing photosensitive ionic metathesis polymers, but also expand the optical properties and application prospect of azobenzene-containing polymers.

一系列定义明确的偶氮苯官能化离聚物是通过降冰片烯-二甲酰亚胺的开环复分解聚合反应制备的，该离子基团与离子液体中的偶氮苯单元进一步连接。相应的含偶氮苯非离子聚合物也采用类似方法合成。基于分子量和进料比之间的线性关系，所有聚合被确认为活性特征。正如预期的那样，在紫外线和可见光交替照射下观察到离聚物中偶氮苯单元的独特光响应特性，这是传统的含偶氮苯非离子聚合物无法实现的。trans-cis的能力和效率由于偶氮苯单元附近存在离子基团，光异构化在一定程度上受到抑制。此外，这些离聚物的尺寸和形态可以通过改变亚甲基间隔物的数量来调节，以产生规则和均匀的球形纳米结构，最终导致独特的光异构化行为。所有这些有趣的结果不仅将为构建光敏离子复分解聚合物提供一种简便有效的方法，而且还将扩展含偶氮苯聚合物的光学性能和应用前景。