HIPE polymerization materials functionalized with iodic-BODIPY on the surface as porous heterogeneous visible-light photocatalysts

High internal phase emulsion polymerization (PolyHIPE) material, with iodine-functionalized Boron-dipyrromethene (iodic-BODIPY) immobilized on its surface, composes a porous heterogeneous organic photocatalyst (iodic-BODIPY-PolyHIPE). It shows high catalytic efficiency on the selective oxidation reaction of aromatic sulphides under visible light. Over 99% substrates were converted to sulfoxide. No sulfones, the peroxidation products of sulphides, were founded. Most importantly, iodic-BODIPY-PolyHIPE shows > 1.6 fold reaction rate compared to the previous non-inorganic heterogeneous photocatalysts.