Carbazole Scaffold Based Photoinitiator/Photoredox Catalysts: Toward New High Performance Photoinitiating Systems and Application in LED Projector 3D Printing Resins

Four new carbazole derivatives (C1–C4) are synthesized and proposed as high performance visible light photoinitiators/photoredox catalysts for both the free radical polymerization (FRP) of (meth)­acrylates and the cationic polymerization (CP) of epoxides upon visible light exposure using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) at 405, 455, and 477 nm. Excellent polymerization initiating abilities are found, and high final reactive function conversions are obtained. Interestingly, these new derivatives exhibit much better visible light polymerization initiating ability compared to a reference UV-absorbing carbazole (CARET, 9H-carbazole-9-ethanol) showing that the new substituents are of great interest to red-shift the absorption of the proposed photoinitiators. More remarkably, in combination with an iodonium salt, C1–C4 are also better than the well-known bis­(2,4,6-trimethyl­benzoyl)­phenyl­phosphine oxide (BAPO) photoinitiator for mild irradiation conditions highlighting their outstanding reactivity. Their use in new cationic resins for LED projector 3D printing is particularly outlined. A full picture of the involved photochemical mechanisms is provided. Originally, these carbazoles behave as metal-free photoredox catalysts active in both oxidative and reductive cycles.