The Polymer Society of Korea

Abstract

Skeletal editing has emerged as a powerful strategy for constructing new molecular frameworks via controlled bond rearrangements, but its application has remained largely confined to small molecules and has remained almost entirely unexplored in macromolecular systems. Herein, we report a photochemical post-polymerization modification of poly(2-vinylpyridine) (P2VP) through skeletal editing. By adapting a previously reported small-molecule methodology to a polymeric scaffold, we optimized the reaction conditions to enable efficient transformation and tunable degrees of functionalization (DOF). Notably, this strategy proceeds without the need for new monomer synthesis and allows a single starting polymer to yield diverse materials with tunable properties. Our findings constitute the first report on the application of skeletal editing in macromolecules.