Sequence control is one of the ultimate goals in polymer chemistry, and if we ever achieve monomer-level sequence control, then the current boundary between biological macromolecules (e.g., proteins, RNA, and DNA) and synthetic polymers would be obsolete, and we could finally have a re-unified polymer science. Compared with the template approach in the biological world, iterative mono-addition has been the strategy used by chemists to achieve monomer-level sequence control in polypeptide and polyester synthesis, but it had never been done for vinyl copolymers. Here we describe such a strategy based on iterative atom transfer radical addition (ATRA) to synthesize sequence-controlled vinyl copolymers. Recent progress and problems after our first publication (ChemComm 2011, 47, 1455) will be presented.

Is it possible to achieve monomer-level sequence control in vinyl copolymers?

246th National Meeting (2013)

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