Construction of Supramolecular Polymers and Covalent Polymers via the Same Monomers

Nature owns the ability to construct structurally different polymers from the same monomers. While polymers can be classified as covalent polymers (CPs) and supramolecular polymers (SPs), it is still difficult to synthesize CPs and SPs using same monomers like nature do. Herein, M1 with two diazo salts on both the ends was designed. Additionally, hydroquinone was chosen to be M2 for the existence of two hydroxyl groups. When mixing at room temperature, M1 and M2 self-assembled to SPs via N…H hydrogen bonds. In another way, upon the exposure to ultraviolet irradiation when blending M1 with M2, CPs were fabricated in the presence of covalent bonds. The excellent thermal stability of CPs was determined by TGA and DSC, while the great corrosion resistance of covalent polymers was detected by acid or alkali immersion. In this way, constructing two kinds of polymers using the same monomers was successfully achieved. This shows tremendous potential in fields of polymer science, supramolecular chemistry, which would boom the development of polymers.