This review presents the recent developments in the research hotspots of advanced functional polymers; their concepts, design strategies, and applications are briefly discussed.

Figure 4. A-C) The CLSM imaging of HepG2 cells with DCFH/DA; D-F) with P1a2b (10 À5 m) pre-incubation for 30 min then DCFH/DA was added (l ex = 405 nm (blue), l ex = 485 (green)). G) The summary data of cell apoptosis with P1a2b (2.5 10 À5 m) for 24, 48 and 72 h in different cell lines.

The low-energy region of the potential energy surface (PES) of the protonated phenylalanine/serine dimer is mapped using the basin-hoping search algorithm, and 37 isomers are identified within 180 kJ·mol of the global-minimum structure. Cluster structures are grouped using hierarchical clustering to partition the PES in terms of nuclear configuration. Calculated IR spectra for the various isomers are then compared with the isomer-specific IR spectra by means of the cosine distance metric to facilitate spectral assignment and identify which regions of the PES are populated in the electrospray ionization process.

A novel multicomponent spiropolymerization was developed by using diisocyanide, alkyne and CO2, and 1,6-dioxospiro[4,4]nonane-3,8-diene was instantly formed.

Polyfurans (PFus) are a type of conjugated polymer but have usually been considered to be inherently unstable and poorly processable. In this work, the multicomponent cyclopolymerization (MCC) of diisocyanide, dialkylacetylene dicarboxylates, and dialdehyde was developed to prepare modified PFus under mild conditions with catalyst-free one-pot reactions. The approach afforded high molecular weight poly­(amine–furan–arylene)­s (PAFAs) (M w up to 76400), which contained 3,4-substituted furan that in situ formed during the polymerization, with good thermal stability and film-processing properties. All the experimental conditions such as molar ratio of monomers, polymerization solvents and temperature, monomer structures, and reactivity were investigated in detail. PAFAs’ structures were well characterized by GPC, FTIR, and NMR. One of the PAFAs carrying dimethylbenzene moieties exhibited the characteristics of a black material. Thus, this MCC provides a new method to modify PFus with a variety of functional groups of main and/or side chains.

Multicomponent polymerization (MCP) is an efficient and rapid method for obtaining multifunctional polymeric materials that have been widely developed in recent years. In this work, poly­(β-aminoacrylate)­s were obtained by spontaneous MCP with the assistance of the C2-amidation of 1-methylimidazole together with diacetylenic esters and diisocyanates. This process can be carried out under mild conditions, such as in a catalyst-free and room-temperature environment. Through the systematic optimization of the polymerization conditions, the resultant poly­(β-aminoacrylate)­s could have molecular weights of up to 24 100 g/mol and excellent yields (up to 94%). All the polymers were well-characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and all the collected data illustrated that the polymerization mechanism corresponds to a model reaction of small molecules. The photophysical property of these obtained polymers indicated that one of the polymers (polymer P1b2a) demonstrated a luminescence capability that was unconventional because no fluorescent emitters were present in its main chains or side chains. A further study suggested that the clustering of diverse subgroups with subsequent electron cloud overlapping, which resulted in molecular conformation rigidification, was primarily responsible for this emission. Thus, the current MCP method will provide guidance for preparing new nonconjugated polymers with cluster-induced emissive functional materials for easily tailored specific applications.

A catalyst-free multicomponent polymerization (MCP) was developed for the in situ construction of iminofuran-arylene-containing polymers (PIFAs) with high molecular weights (M w up to 24 300) and high yields (up to 89.7%). The structure of the PIFAs was characterized by gel permeation chromatography, Fourier transform infrared, and NMR. The thermal and photophysical properties of the PIFAs were also investigated. The results indicated that the PIFAs have good solubilities and thin-film processibility. Moreover, most of the obtained PIFAs have high refractive indices of visible light (400−800 nm) because of the existence of bromide, nitrogen, and oxygen atoms in each repeating unit. Some of the PIFAs showed aggregation-enhanced emission behavior and could be good candidates for bioimaging or therapy of specific cells. Because of the bromomethyl groups on the 5-position of the furan in the side chain, the PIFAs are better macromolecular catalysts for living polymerizations that result in star-branched or brush polymers. Thus, this MCP provides a new kind of multifunctional material by modifying the different monomer structures and/or side chains.

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