Ferrocene-Functionalized Disubstituted Polyacetylenes with High Light Refractivity: Synthesis through Polymer Reaction by Using Click Chemistry and Application as Precursors to Magnetic Nanoparticles

Several recent conceptual advances, which take advantage of the design criteria and practical techniques of molecular-level control in organic chemistry, allow preparation of well-defined polymers and nanostructured materials. Two trends are clear: the realization that synthesis of complex macromolecules poses major challenges and opportunities and the expectation that such materials will exhibit distinctive properties and functions. Polymer synthesis methods now being developed will yield well-defined synthetic macromolecules that are capable of mimicking many of the features of proteins (for example, three-dimensional folded structure) and other natural materials. These macromolecules have far-reaching potential for the study of molecular-level behavior at interfaces, in thin films, and in solution, while also enabling the development of encapsulation, drug-delivery, and nanoscale-patterning technologies.

The development of new polymerization reactions is of critical importance to macromolecule science. In this critical review, we summarize the research efforts to incubate alkyne-azide click reactions into a versatile polymerization technique for the synthesis of poly(triazole)s (PTAs) with linear and hyperbranched structures. Cu(I)- and Ru(II)-catalyzed click polymerizations afforded 1,4- and 1,5-regioregular PTAs, respectively. Whereas traditional thermal cycloadditions normally generate regiorandom products, PTAs with 1,4-regioisomer contents up to 95% were created by utilizing the electronic effect involved in the thermal click polymerizations of aroylacetylenes with azides. The PTAs showed unique functional properties, such as luminescence, chromism, fluorescence imaging, emission superquenching, chain helicity, optical nonlinearity, light refractivity, photovoltaic effect, cytocompatibility and biodegradability (145 references).