Polymer Synthesis and New Polymeric Materials
Molecular-level control, which is ubiquitous in small molecule organic chemistry, is now an area of fundamental importance in polymer science. This growing convergence of organic and polymer chemistries has evolved during recent years to address new issues such as the precise control of the spatial, stereochemical and backbone location of functional groups for both linear and branched macromolecular architectures. Two trends are clear: the realization that the synthesis of complex macromolecules poses significant challenges and the expectation that tailored macromolecular materials will exhibit unique properties and functions.
The most profound recent developments in polymer chemistry are based on this growing synergy between advanced organic chemistry and polymer synthesis. A driving force is the realization that many of the promising applications of nanotechnology rely on extending synthetic organic chemistry into the nanometer length scale, especially as increasing levels of function are built into nanoscale devices. There is also a desire to study fundamental aspects of polymer physics that require the exacting level of control over the structure of a polymer molecule that is traditionally associated with organic chemistry. As a result, creative approaches utilizing organic chemistry are required to control every facet of macromolecular structure and to enable functional groups to be introduced at defined locations.
In actual fact, the unique features of macromolecules when compared to small molecules (number of functional groups, purification techniques, etc.) make the elucidation of polymer synthesis protocols that proceed with structural fidelity and high levels of functional group compatibility, a grand challenge. It is expected that controlled polymerization techniques will be used in greater concert with supramolecular assembly and other templating-based methods to afford macromolecular structures and nanoscale materials with increasing sophistication of structures, properties and functions over the coming decade. This combination of newly emerging techniques will be one of the central foci of the proposed workshop.