Metal-Free “Click” Chemistry: Efficient Polymer Modification via 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition of Nitrile Oxides and Alkynes

Polymer chemistry, probably more than any other chemical discipline, relies on highly efficient organic reactions.1 Indeed, typical macromolecular reactions such as polymer growth (i.e., chain- or step-growth), polymer modification (i.e side-chains or chain-ends) and chain-chain coupling (i.e., block copolymer synthesis, bioconjugation) generally require high-yield and highly specific chemical reactions.2 In that context, it comes as no surprise thatmodular reactions of the “click”-type3 have recently been gaining popularity in polymer science. For instance, more than 300 articles, describing the relevance of copper-catalyzed azide/alkyne cycloadditions (CuAAC) in polymer synthesis, have been published within the last five years.4 These archetypal “click” reactions open multiple possibilities in terms of macromolecular engineering