Photoinduced iron-catalyzed C–H alkylation of polyolefins

Chemically introducing diverse polar groups into polyolefins via carbon–hydrogen bond alkylation with polar olefins is of substantial value in the synthesis of next-generation lightweight thermoplastics, which is still underdeveloped. In this work, we report a new approach for efficient carbon–hydrogen bond alkylation in commodity polyolefins using photoinduced iron catalysis. Various polyolefins could be functionalized with broad scope. Polar groups could be incorporated in a single step. The controllable synthesis of multi-polar functional polyolefins could be achieved by a designed module-assembled process. Remarkably, even low levels of functionalization could upcycle the polyolefin materials to exhibit unusual physical properties, such as enhancement of the transparencies, strains, stresses at break of the materials, and hydrophilicity.