Cyclic polymers: Advances in their synthesis, properties, and biomedical applications

Abstract

Since the time first synthetic macrocycles were observed as academic curiosities, great advances have been made. Thanks to the development of controlled polymerization processes, new catalytic systems and characterization techniques during the last decades, well-defined cyclic polymers are now readily accessible. This further permits the determination of their unique set of properties, mainly due to their lack of chain ends, and their use for industrial applications can now be foreshadowed. This review aims to give an overview on the recent progresses in the field of ring polymers to this day. The current state of the art of the preparation of cyclic polymers, the challenges related to it such as the purification of the samples and the scalability of the synthetic processes, the properties arising from the cyclic topology and the potential use of cyclo-based polymers for biomedical applications are as many topics covered in this review.