Bifunctional Aryloxylate Esters as potential oxidatively cleavable linkers

Selectively cleavable linkers are essential parts in environmentally responsive materials. Here, we introduce aryl oxalate esters (AOE) as one of the first examples for oxidatively cleavable linkers. To this end a series of novel AOEs was synthesized and explored regarding the H2O2-dependent degradation. All AOEs were cleaved selectively at the oxalate group. The degradation rate was clearly dependent on the substituents. Further, it was found that the H2O2 based degradation undergoes an autocatalysis mechanism. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.