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Emergent quantum phenomena in electronically coupled two-dimensional heterostructures are central to next-generation optical, electronic, and quantum information applications. Tailoring electronic band gaps in coupled heterostructures would permit control of such phenomena and is the subject of significant research interest. Two-dimensional polymers (2DPs) offer a compelling route to tailored band structures through the selection of molecular constituents. However, despite the promise of synthetic flexibility and electronic design, fabrication of 2DPs that form electronically coupled 2D heterostructures remains an outstanding challenge. Here, we report the rational design and optimized synthesis of electronically coupled semiconducting 2DP/2D transition metal dichalcogenide van der Waals heterostructures, demonstrate direct exfoliation of the highly crystalline and oriented 2DP films down to a few nanometers, and present the first thickness-dependent study of 2DP/MoS2 heterostructures. Control over the 2DP layers reveals enhancement of the 2DP photoluminescence by two orders of magnitude in ultrathin sheets and an unexpected thickness-dependent modulation of the ultrafast excited state dynamics in the 2DP/MoS2 heterostructure. These results provide fundamental insight into the electronic structure of 2DPs and present a route to tune emergent quantum phenomena in 2DP hybrid van der Waals heterostructures.

Carbene polymerization provides polyolefins that cannot be readily prepared from olefin monomers; however, controlled and living carbene polymerization has been a long-standing challenge. Here we report a new class of initiators, (π-allyl)palladium carboxylate dimers, which polymerize ethyl diazoacetate, a carbene precursor in a controlled and quasi-living manner, with nearly quantitative yields, degrees of polymerization >100, molecular weight dispersities 1.2-1.4, and well-defined, diversifiable chain ends. This method also provides block copolycarbenes that undergo microphase segregation. Experimental and theoretical mechanistic analysis supports a new dinuclear mechanism for this process.