Recent Advances on Benzylidene Ketones as Photoinitiators of Polymerization

International audienceVisible light photopolymerization is facing a revolution with the development of monocomponent photoinitiating systems greatly simplifying the composition of the photocurable resins. Among unimolecular photoinitiators, chalcones and related structures are extensively studied due to the easiness of synthesis, the versatility of the substitution pattern and the good thermal stability. Among chromophores that can be used for the design of photoinitiators, benzylidene ketones have been identified as promising scaffolds due to their facile syntheses reduced to a unique synthetic step, the possibility to access to these structures using environmentally friendly conditions and their good absorptions in the visible range. In this review, an overview of the recent advances on benzylidene ketones used as visible light photoinitiators is provided. Notably, these structures could be used for both one photon and two-photon polymerizations, evidencing the versatility of these structures. To evidence the interest of benzylidene ketones, comparisons with benchmark photoinitiators are provided