LAUSR

Biological macromolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids are monodisperse just like low molar mass organic compounds are. However, synthetic macromolecules contain mixtures of different chain length the most uniform being generated by living polymerizations (LPs) that exhibit maximum 1 to 3 % desirable length. Monodisperse natural and synthetic oligomers can be obtained in low quantities by tedious, multistep iterative methods. Here we report a methodology to synthesize monodisperse synthetic macromolecules by a self-interrupted living polymerization (SILP). This methodology relies on a concept that combines supramolecular and macromolecular chemistry and differs from the conventional reactivity principles employed in the synthesis of polymers for over 100 years.