Chapter 8: Click Reactions in Dendrimers and Branched Polymers

“Click chemistry” is regarded as one of the best success stories of the 21st century for developing novel ligation tools. A simple yet efficient chemical ligation is one of the key characteristics of click transformations. In addition to other disciplines, macromolecular research has benefited greatly from the advent of click methodology. These types of chemistry can be used to construct macromolecules and to carry out post-polymerization modifications efficiently for enriching macromolecular libraries. For example, accessing higher-generation dendrimers becomes remarkably simple by employing click chemistry. Similarly, accessing different compartments of a branched polymer for functionalization becomes highly efficient. The availability of efficient functionalization tools also facilitates the tuning of physicochemical properties.