Synthesis and structure determination of helical polymers

During the last decade, remarkable progress in developing synthetic helical polymers with a controlled helical sense has been achieved. However, the exact helical structures of most of the already prepared synthetic helical polymers remain unsolved. In this review, the recent progress in the synthesis of helical polymers and their structural determination, including helical pitch and handedness based on X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic measurements, together with high-resolution atomic force microscopy, is described. Polymer Journal (2010) 42, 3-16; doi:10.1038/pj.2009.314