Hetero and homo α,ω-chain-end functionalized polyphosphazenes.

The control of chain-ends is fundamental in modern macromolecular chemistry for directed one-to-one bioconjugation and the synthesis of advanced architectures such as block copolymers or bottlebrush polymers and the preparation of advanced soft materials. Polyphosphazenes are of growing importance as elastomers, biodegradable materials and in biomedical drug delivery due to their synthetic versatility. While controlled polymerization methods have been known for some time, controlling both chain-ends with high fidelity has proven difficult.