Angewandte Chemie - International Edition
Angewandte Chemie - International Edition
5 years ago

Cleaving Direct-Laser-Written Microstructures on Demand

Cleaving Direct-Laser-Written Microstructures on Demand
Martin Wegener, Markus M. Zieger, Christopher Barner-Kowollik, Patrick Mueller, Alexander S. Quick
Using an advanced functional photoresist we introduce direct-laser-written (DLW) 3D microstructures capable of complete degradation on demand. The networks consist exclusively of reversible bonds, formed by irradiation of a phenacyl sulfide linker, giving disulfide bonds in a radical-free step-growth polymerization via a reactive thioaldehyde. The bond formation was verified in solution by ESI-MS. To induce cleavage, dithiothreitol causes a thiol–disulfide exchange, erasing the written structure. The mild cleavage of the disulfide network is highly orthogonal to other, for example, acrylate-based DLW structures. To emphasize this aspect, DLW structures were prepared incorporating reversible structural elements into a non-reversible acrylate-based standard scaffold, confirming subsequent selective cleavage. The high lateral resolution achievable was verified by the preparation of well-defined line gratings with line separations of down to 300 nm. Nothing lasts forever: A phenacyl sulfide based photoresist that allows direct-laser-written (DLW) microstructures to be degraded on demand enables the fabrication of networks that are exclusively crosslinked by reversible disulfide bonds. The preparation involves a well-defined step-growth polymerization with multi-functional thiols. The on-demand cleavage is induced by a simple chemical reduction trigger.

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1002/anie.201701593

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