100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Degradable Polymers from Radical Ring-Opening Polymerization: Latest Advances, New Directions, and Ongoing Challenges

Abstract

Radical ring-opening polymerization (rROP) allows facile incorporation of labile groups (e.g., ester) into the main chain of vinyl polymers to obtain (bio)degradable materials. rROP has focused a lot of attention especially since the advent of reversible deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) techniques and is still incredibly moving forward, as attested by the numerous achievements in terms of monomer synthesis, macromolecular engineering, and potential biomedical applications of the resulting degradable polymers. In the present Viewpoint, we will cover the latest progress made in rROP in the last ∼5 years, such as its recent directions, its remaining limitations, and the ongoing challenges. More specifically, this will be achieved through the three different classes of monomers that recently caught most of the attention: cyclic ketene acetals (CKA), thionolactones, and macrocyclic monomers.