Room Temperature One-Step Conversion from Elemental Sulfur to Functional Polythioureas through Catalyst-Free Multicomponent Polymerizations

The utilization of sulfur is a global concern, considering the abundant and cheap source of sulfur from nature and petroleum industry, its limited consumption, and the safety/environmental problems caused during storage. The economic and efficient transformation of sulfur remains to be a great challenge for both academia and industry. Herein, a room temperature conversion from sulfur to functional polythioureas was reported through a catalyst-free multicomponent polymerization of sulfur, aliphatic diamines, and diisocyanides in air with 100% atom economy. The polymerization enjoys quick reaction and wide monomer scope, which affords 16 polythioureas with well-defined structures, high molecular weights (M_ws up to 242 500 g/mol), and excellent yields (up to 95%). The polythioureas can be utilized to detect mercury pollution with high sensitivity (K_sv = 224 900 L/mol) and high selectivity, clean Hg²⁺ with high removal efficiency (>99.99%) to achieve drinking water standard, and monitor the real-time removal process by fluorescence.