Dual stimuli triggerable degradation of graft copolymers

Here we report one-pot stimuli-responsive tandem degradation of a graft copolymer with alternating backbone functionalities. A well-defined polymeric species is formed by selectively cleaving one of the structural repeat units in the main chain, and can be further 'cut' into half by cleaving the second structural unit. The high selectivity of these two orthogonal steps ensures that the order of the stimuli employed does not affect the outcome. Here we report one-pot stimuli-responsive tandem degradation of a graft copolymer with alternating backbone functionalities.

Automated summary

We report a one-pot stimuli-responsive tandem degradation method for a graft copolymer with alternating backbone functionalities. Selective cleavage of structural repeat units in the main chain forms a well-defined polymeric species, and further cleavage of the second structural unit can 'cut' it in half. The high selectivity of these two orthogonal steps ensures that the order of stimuli does not affect the outcome.