Functional Heterochain Polymers Constructed by Alkyne Multicomponent Polymerizations

Heterochain polymers such as DNA and proteins are abundant in nature, but they are not ubiquitous in man-made polymers due to the synthetic difficulties. Traditional polymerization methodologies including chain polymerization, step-growth polymerization, and coordination polymerization all show obvious drawbacks in synthesizing heterochain polymers. The alkyne multicomponent polymerizations (MCPs) developed in the early 2000s open a new door for the synthesis of conjugated heterochain polymers with diverse structures and unique properties. This review presents the progress in novel heterochain polymers constructed by alkyne-based MCPs in the last three years. The unique properties and high-tech applications brought by heteroatoms and MCPs are summarized and perspectives on future directions are also discussed.