The mechanochemical Friedel-Crafts polymerization as a solvent-free cross-linking approach toward microporous polymers

Herein we report the mechanochemical Friedel-Crafts alkylation of 1,3,5-triphenylbenzene (TPB) with two organochloride cross-linking agents, dichloromethane (DCM) and chloroform (CHCl₃), respectively. During a thorough milling parameter evaluation, the DCM-linked polymers were found to be flexible and extremely sensitive toward parameter changes, which even enables the synthesis of a polymer with a SSA_BET of 1670 m²/g, on par with the solution-based reference. Contrary, CHCl₃-linked polymers are exhibiting a rigid structure, with a high porosity that is widely unaffected by parameter changes. As a result, a polymer with a SSA_BET of 1280 m²/g could be generated in as little as 30 minutes, outperforming the reported literature analogue in terms of synthesis time and SSA_BET. To underline the environmental benefits of our fast and solvent-free synthesis approach, the green metrics are discussed, revealing an enhancement of the mass intensity, mass productivity and the E-factor, as well as of synthesis time and the work-up in comparison to the classical synthesis. Therefore, the mechanochemical polymerization is presented as a versatile tool, enabling the generation of highly porous polymers within short reaction times, with a minimal use of chlorinated cross-linker and with the possibility of a post polymerization modification.