Dynamic covalent polymers generated from X-yne click polymerization

Abstract

Dynamic covalent polymers have gained more and more attention for their fascinating dynamic features and broad application prospects. As an emerging and powerful synthetic tool, X-yne click polymerization, mainly including thiol-yne, amino-yne and hydroxyl-yne click polymerizations, has been rapidly developed and widely applied in the preparation of functional polymers in recent years. Moreover, dynamic exchange processes have been successively observed in different X-yne adducts, and then several dynamic covalent polymers have been obtained by X-yne click polymerization. The combination of these two aspects not only provides a highly efficient synthetic approach for dynamic covalent polymers, but also further expands the application scope of X-yne click polymerization, achieving a win–win situation. In this review, we sort out the dynamic exchange mechanisms based on the formation of β-heteroatom enolate intermediates and give a detailed account of the progress of dynamic covalent polymers generated from X-yne click polymerization and their applications in covalent adaptable networks (CANs), self-healing injectable polymer hydrogels and functional porous polymeric films, etc. The existing deficiencies and future prospects in this field are also discussed.