Syntheses and applications of dendronized polymers

The past several decades have witnessed the rapid development of dendronized polymers (DPs) and the transformation of the research field into a new area at the interfaces of organic chemistry, polymer synthesis and materials science. The syntheses of DPs have been thoroughly exploited using both covalent dendron linking to polymer chains and supramolecular assemblies, and their scope and limitations have been scrutinized. Focus on DPs has varied from the initial synthesis to the preparation of fascinating structures and nanomaterials towards targeted applications. This review summarizes the progress in the synthesis and application of DPs in the last decade. The synthetic methods encompass not only the traditional strategies including the convergent graft-to method, the divergent graft-from method, and the macromonomer method, but also the emerging supramolecular attach-to method. Modern living- and controlled-polymerization techniques and other efficient methods have been demonstrated to create available opportunities to prepare a variety of functionalized DPs, leading to applications including self-assembly, biomedicine, stimuli-responsive materials, catalysis, and optoelectronic devices. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.