Exquisite stereochemical control will allow creation of millions of unique polymers

Chemists can now precisely control the stereochemical sequence of synthetic polymers using similar techniques to those used to create artificial DNA. Growing polymers one monomer at a time could unlock ‘out of the box’ sequences with unique properties, say researchers.

Synthetic polymers are typically non-uniform, varying in both length and structure. Current synthetic methods – such as radical or anionic polymerisation – also have limited control on how stereocentres are introduced along the polymer backbone. ‘I was a bit frustrated by the tools [chemists] use to build polymers,’ says Jean-François Lutz at the University of Strasbourg in France who led the study.