From β-Dicarbonyl Chemistry to Dynamic Polymers

The past two decades have witnessed an explosion of the use of dynamic bonds in polymer science. The β-dicarbonyl skeleton has emerged as a most versatile platform motif that has been utilized to synthesize a plethora of dynamic polymers that leverage either reversible metal-ligand coordination or exchangeable dynamic covalent bonds. The high modularity and intrinsic dynamic nature of the structures based on the β-dicarbonyl motif have received considerable interest across diverse fields, in applications that include drug delivery, the development of sustainable polymers, 3D printing, actuators, and many others. This review summarizes the progress on dynamic polymers derived from β-dicarbonyl synthons and focuses on three main topics. The first section provides a comprehensive overview of the prevalent methodologies employed for the preparation of polymers containing β-dicarbonyl moieties. The second part highlights the key features, development, and applications of dynamic polymers based on the β-dicarbonyl chemistry, including metallo-supramolecular polymers and dynamic covalent polymer networks. In the concluding section, we offer our views on the future challenges and prospects pertaining to this class of dynamic polymer systems.