Dental composites systems and methods of making the same and using same

1. A composition comprising one or more multifunctional vinyl sulfone monomers, one or more multifunctional thiol monomers, and at least one isocyanate monomer,

wherein (i) at least one multifunctional thiol monomer is trifunctional, tetrafunctional, pentafunctional or hexafunctional as to the thiol group, or (ii) at least one vinyl sulfone monomer is trifunctional, tetrafunctional, pentafunctional or hexafunctional as to the vinyl sulfone group;

wherein the one or more multifunctional vinyl sulfone monomers, the one or more multifunctional thiol monomers and the at least one isocyanate monomer are devoid of ester functionalities;

wherein the at least one isocyanate monomer is selected from the group consisting of a monofunctional isocyanate, a polyfunctional isocyanate, and mixtures thereof;

wherein (i) the thiol equivalent concentration is approximately equal to the sum of the vinyl sulfone equivalent and the isocyanate equivalent concentrations, or (ii) the thiol equivalent, vinyl sulfone equivalent and isocyanate equivalent concentrations are selected such that, upon polymerization of the composition, at least 80% polymerization of the thiol monomer or vinyl sulfone monomer is observed; and

wherein, once polymerized, the polymerized composition comprises a crosslinked polymeric network.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the monomers in the composition are unpolymerized or at least partially polymerized.

3. The composition of claim 1 , further comprising at least one catalyst selected from the group consisting of a base, a nucleophile, a photolabile base, a photolabile nucleophile, and mixtures thereof.

4. The composition of claim 3 , wherein the composition undergoes at least partial polymerization when the catalyst is photocleaved.

5. A composition comprising one or more multifunctional vinyl sulfone monomers, one or more multifunctional thiol monomers, and optionally an isocyanate monomer,

wherein the one or more multifunctional vinyl sulfone monomers, the one or more multifunctional thiol monomers and the optional isocyanate monomer are devoid of ester functionalities;

wherein, once polymerized, the polymerized composition comprises a crosslinked polymeric network;

wherein at least one vinyl sulfone monomer is selected from the group consisting of divinyl sulfone,

and any combinations thereof; and,

wherein at least one thiol monomer is selected from the group consisting of 2,5-dimercaptomethyl-1,4-dithiane, 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanol, 2-mercapto-ethyl sulfide, 2,3-(dimercaptoethylthio)-1-mercaptopropane, 1,2,3-trimercaptopropane, 1,6-hexanedithiol, 1,2-benzenedithiol, 1,3-benzenedithiol, isophorone diurethane thiol,

and any combinations thereof.

6. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the one or more thiol monomers are independently difunctional, trifunctional, tetrafunctional, pentafunctional or hexafunctional as to the thiol group, and wherein the one or more vinyl sulfone monomers are independently difunctional, trifunctional, tetrafunctional, pentafunctional or hexafunctional as to the vinyl sulfone group.

7. A method of photoinducing a thiol-Michael addition reaction, the method comprising photo-irradiating a composition comprising a thiol monomer, a Michael acceptor monomer, at least one isocyanate monomer, and at least one catalyst selected from the group consisting of a photolabile base, a photolabile nucleophile, and mixtures thereof;

wherein the at least one isocyanate monomer is selected from the group consisting of a monofunctional isocyanate, a polyfunctional isocyanate, and mixtures thereof; and

wherein (i) the thiol equivalent concentration is approximately equal to the sum of the vinyl sulfone equivalent and the isocyanate equivalent concentrations, or (ii) the thiol equivalent vinyl sulfone equivalent and isocyanate equivalent concentrations are selected such that upon polymerization of the composition, at least 80% polymerization of the thiol monomer or vinyl sulfone monomer is observed.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the photolabile base or photolabile nucleophile comprises a protective group selected from the group consisting of:

wherein:

each occurrence of R 1 and R 2 is independently H or OCH 3 ,

each occurrence of R 3 is independently H, CH 3 , C(═O)OH or C(═O)OCH 3 ,

X is NH or O, and

each occurrence of R 4 and R 5 is independently H or CH 3 .

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the at least one catalyst comprises a tertiary amine, wherein each substituent on the tertiary amine or phosphine is independently selected from the group consisting of alkyl, substituted alkyl, aryl and substituted aryl.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the Michael acceptor monomer comprises a (meth)acrylate, maleamide, or vinyl sulfone.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein photo-irradiating the composition promotes at least partial polymerization of the monomers.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the composition further comprises a filler comprising a thiol- or a vinyl sulfone-functionalized particle.

13. A composition comprising a multifunctional vinyl sulfone monomer, a tetra(2-mercapto)silane (SiTSH) monomer, and optionally an isocyanate monomer, wherein, once polymerized, the polymerized composition forms a crosslinked polymeric network.

14. The composition of claim 13 , wherein the monomers in the composition are unpolymerized or at least partially polymerized.

15. The composition of claim 13 , wherein the isocyanate monomer is absent; and wherein (i) the thiol equivalent concentration is approximately equal to the vinyl sulfone equivalent concentration, or (ii) the thiol equivalent and vinyl sulfone equivalent concentrations are selected such that, upon polymerization of the composition, at least 80% polymerization of the thiol or vinyl sulfone monomers is observed.

16. The composition of claim 13 , wherein the isocyanate is present and is selected from the group consisting of a monofunctional isocyanate, a polyfunctional isocyanate, and mixtures thereof.

17. The composition of claim 16 , wherein (i) the thiol equivalent concentration is approximately equal to the sum of the vinyl sulfone equivalent and the isocyanate equivalent concentrations, or (ii) the thiol equivalent, vinyl sulfone equivalent and isocyanate equivalent concentrations are selected such that, upon polymerization of the composition, at least 80% polymerization of the thiol monomer or vinyl sulfone monomer is observed.

18. The composition of claim 13 , wherein the composition is essentially free of any other thiol monomer apart from SiTSH.

19. The composition of claim 13 , wherein the at least partially polymerized composition is stable to acidic or basic conditions.

20. The composition of claim 13 , wherein the monomers are at least partially polymerized by step-growth dispersion click chemistry to form microspheres.

21. The composition of claim 20 , wherein the microspheres have an average diameter within a range selected from the group consisting of: from 0.5 μm to 100 μm, from 1 μm to 50 μm, from 0.5 μm to 1 μm; and from 1 μm to 10 μm.

22. The composition of claim 20 , wherein the microspheres are near-monodisperse or monodisperse.

23. The composition of claim 20 , wherein the microspheres have a glass transition temperature (Tg) in the range of −50° C. to 100° C. or a Tg in the range of −24° C. to 16° C.

24. A method of generating a polymeric material, the method comprising polymerizing at least partially a composition comprising the tetra(2-mercapto)silane (SiTSH) monomer and at least one selected from the group consisting of (a) a Michael acceptor, optionally an isocyanate monomer, and optionally at least one catalyst; (b) an ene monomer, and optionally a polymerization photoinitiator.

25. The method of claim 24 , wherein in (a) the at least one catalyst is present and is selected from the group consisting of a base, a nucleophile, a photolabile base, a photolabile nucleophile, and mixtures thereof.

26. The method of claim 24 , wherein the polymerized composition comprises microspheres.