A boranil-based conjugated microporous polymer for efficient visible-light-driven heterogeneous photocatalysis

The incorporation of pure organic dyes into the backbone of conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) opens a new avenue for facile construction of metal-free heterogeneous photocatalysts with tailor-made properties. Herein, we presented the design and synthesis of a new CMP based on a boranil dye which was exploited as an efficient heterogeneous photocatalyst. It exhibited superior photocatalytic performance towards aerobic oxidation of amines and sulfides compared with that of the boranil-free counterpart and featured wide visible-light absorption, a narrow optical bandgap, and more planar π-conjugation due to boron complexation. The present study establishes boranil dyes as efficient building blocks for fabricating new photocatalysts.