The effect of thread-like monomer structure on the synthesis of poly[]catenanes from metallosupramolecular polymers.

The main-chain poly[]catenane consists of a series of interlocked rings that resemble a macroscopic chain-link structure. Recently, the synthesis of such intriguing polymers was reported a metallosupramolecular polymer (MSP) template that consists of alternating units of macrocyclic and linear thread-like monomers. Ring closure of the thread components has been shown to yield a mixture of cyclic, linear, and branched poly[]catenanes. Reported herein are studies aimed at accessing new poly[]catenanes this approach and exploring the effect the thread-like monomer structure has on the poly[]catenane synthesis. Specifically, the effect of the size of the aromatic linker and alkenyl chains of the thread-like monomer is investigated. Three new poly[]catenanes (with different ring sizes) were prepared using the MSP approach and the results show that tailoring the structure of the thread-like monomer can allow the selective synthesis of branched poly[]catenanes.