2-Oxo-2(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)Acetic Acid (DKSi-COOH) as a New Water-Soluble Visible Light Type I Photoinitiator for Free Radical Polymerization

2-Oxo-2-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)acetic acid (DKSi-COOH), is proposed here as a new high-performance photoinitiator (PI) for the free radical polymerization of methacrylates under blue light irradiation. In the presence of DKSi-COOH, very good polymerization performances are reached and outstanding bleaching properties are obtained compared to traditionally used camphorquinone-based photoinitiating systems. Remarkably, this new developed PI exhibits good water solubility and excellent stability in acidic conditions and represents therefore a promising candidate for water-based formulations.