TY - JOUR A1 - Eisenreich, F. A1 - Kathan, M. A1 - Dallmann, A. A1 - Ihrig, S. P. A1 - Schwaar, Timm A1 - Schmidt, B. M. A1 - Hecht, S. T1 - A photoswitchable catalyst system for remote-controlled (co)polymerization in situ N2 - The fundamental properties of a polymeric material are ultimately governed by its structure, which mainly relies on monomercomposition and connection, topology, chain length, and polydispersity. Thus far, these structural characteristics are typicallyset ex situ by the specific polymerization procedure, eventually limiting the future design space for the creation of moresophisticated polymers. Herein, we report on a single photoswitchable catalyst system, which enables in situ remote controlover the ring-opening polymerization of l-lactide and further allows regulation of the incorporation of trimethylene carbonateand δ -valerolactone monomers in copolymerizations. By implementing a phenol moiety into a diarylethene-type structure,we exploit light-induced keto–enol tautomerism to switch the hydrogen-bonding-mediated monomer activation reversiblyON and OFF. This general and versatile principle allows for exquisite external modulation of ground-state catalysis of a livingpolymerization process in a closed system by ultraviolet and visible light and should thereby facilitate the generation of newpolymer structures. KW - Polymers PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-018-0091-8 SN - 2520-1158 VL - 1 IS - 7 SP - 516 EP - 522 PB - Nature CY - London AN - OPUS4-45407 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -