Click Reactions in Polymer Synthesis

Abstract Click reactions, with remarkable merits including high efficiency, atom economy, mild reaction conditions, good functionality tolerance, simple isolation process, and regio‐ and/or stereoselectivity, have drawn intense attention of polymer chemists and found widespread applications in polymer synthesis. Besides the famous Cu(I)‐catalyzed azide–alkyne click reaction, plentiful click reactions, such as Diels–Alder, thiol‐based, nonaldol carbonyl, amino‐yne, hydroxyl–yne, and sulfur(VI) fluoride‐exchange click reactions, have also been introduced into the field of polymer chemistry. With these efficient click reactions in hand, diverse functional groups can be readily incorporated into polymer chains to endow them with desired functionalities. Copolymers with complex structures, such as block, graft, star, and cyclic polymers, can be synthesized using click reaction as polymer conjugation method. These click reactions have also been developed into facile polymerization techniques, that is, click polymerization, for the direct synthesis of linear, hyperbranched, and cross‐linked polymers with various properties. This article intends to give a brief summary of click reactions applied in polymer synthesis, including preparation of polymers and postpolymerization modification of preformed polymers.