Amphiphilic supramolecular A(B)2A quasi-triblock copolymers

The efficient synthesis of a responsive amphiphilic supramolecular triblock copolymer A(B)2A is described, where the blocks are held together by self-complementary hydrogen bonding at the homojunction (B–B) and by heteroleptic metal complexes at the heterojunction (A–B). The supramolecular copolymer was prepared in a minimum of steps by using heterotelechelic building blocks with orthogonal binding sites polymerized in one step.