METALLO)SUPRAMOLECULAR CLICK CHEMISTRY VERSUS CLICK CHEMISTRY IN POLYMER SCIENCE

fulfills all these requirements and more as defined in the strict criteria for click chemistry that include that the reaction is modular, wide in scope, stereospecific (but not necessarily enantioselective), gives very high yields and generates only inoffensive byproducts that can be removed by nonchromatographic methods. In addition, the coupling procedure should be simple, involve readily available reagents and starting materials and it should allow easy product isolation and purification. The copper(I) catalyzed 1,3-dipolar azide-alkyne cycloaddition that was simultaneously developed by Sharpless 3 and Meldal 4 combines all the beneficial requirements of click chemistry. The copper(I) catalyst tremendously accelerates this cycloaddition allowing room temperature reactions and it only yields the 1,4-substituted 1,2,3-triazole. 5,6 The versatility and simplicity of the copper(I) catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between azides and alkynes has resulted in its rapid evolution into a commonly applied coupling methodology in research areas, such as organic synthesis, 1,7