Applications of Orthogonal "Click" Chemistries in the Synthesis of Functional Soft Materials

Applications of robust, efficient and orthogonal (REO) click chemistries in the synthesis of functional soft materials was studied. The discussion involves demonstrations of REO chemistry for the preparation of well-defined, discrete macromolecules or nanoscale structures. Traditional organic transformations and also controlled polymerizations are each considered as REO, provided that they are used in concert to lead to increased sophistication in macromolecular structure and compositional complexity. Multilayered macromolecular architectures or nanostructures can now be produced with each layer contributing a unique property or function, and access to each of those functions could be triggered by a stagewise dismantling of the entire complex unit. It is expected that enhanced modularities in these frameworks will provide for increasingly intelligent materials that perform as discrete molecular devices, capable of highly sophisticated functional operations.