CHAPTER 2: End‐group Functionalization of RAFT‐prepared Polymers Using Thiol‐X Chemistries

Reactions of RAFT‐prepared copolymers in a series of thiol‐X reactions is discussed. Such reaction are facilitated by the fact that (co)polymers prepared via RAFT can be considered as masked macromolecular thiols by virtue of the polymerization mechanism and the use of thiocarbonylthio reagents as the polymerization mediating species. Removal of the thiocarbonylthio functional groups, most commonly located at the ω termini, post‐polymerization gives the corresponding polymeric thiols that are available for further reaction. Herein, we highlight how such species can be employed in reactions such as thiol‐Michael, thiol‐ene, thiol‐isocyanate and thiol‐epooxide reactions.