RAFT step-growth polymerization via the Z-group approach and deconstruction by RAFT interchange

Recycling vinyl polymers is essential to mitigate the environmental impact of plastic waste. However, typical polymerization strategies to construct vinyl polymers lack the ability to incorporate degradable linkers throughout the main chain. We report a RAFT step-growth polymerization through the Z-group approach that is directly carried out by using a common class of symmetric trithiocarbonate based RAFT agents and commercially available bismaleimide monomers. Such synthesized RAFT step-growth polymers contain embedded RAFT agents in every structural unit, allowing chain expansion of the step-growth backbone