Recent advances in alkyne-based click polymerizations

Abstract

Click chemistry, with remarkable advantages such as high efficiency, atom economy, mild reaction conditions, very high yield, regio- and/or stereoselectivity, and good functionality tolerance, has been nurtured into a powerful polymerization technique with widespread applications. Among various click polymerizations, alkyne-based click polymerization is the most prominent one. Recently, impressive progress has been made toward the further development of azide–alkyne click polymerization (AACP) and thiol–yne click polymerization, in which chain-growth AACP and spontaneous thiol–yne click polymerization are the most representative examples, respectively. Meanwhile, unprecedented amino–yne click polymerization and hydroxyl–yne click polymerization have emerged as efficient polymerization techniques for the preparation of polymers with advanced structures and versatile properties. In this minireview, we aim to give a brief summary of alkyne-based click polymerizations. Particularly, the recent significant progress in the area is highlighted and introduced in detail. The multicomponent polymerization mediated by Cu(I)-catalyzed AACP is also mentioned. Furthermore, the existing challenges and the promising opportunities are briefly discussed.