Metal-Catalyzed Group-Transfer Polymerization: A Versatile Tool for Tailor-Made Functional (Co)Polymers

Accommodating the increasing demand for tailor-made polymers is a major goal in polymer chemistry. Therefore, the investigation of polymerization techniques, which allow the precise synthesis of macromolecules is of exceptional interest. Ionic or controlled radical polymerization are capable living-type methods for the generation of uniform polymers. However, even these approaches reach their limits in certain issues. In the last decades, group-transfer polymerization (GTP) and especially metal-catalyzed GTP have proven to give access to a plethora of tailor-made homo- and copolymers based on α,β-unsaturated monomers. Thereby, GTP has established its potential in the development of functional and smart polymers. This concept article highlights the most significant progress in metal-catalyzed GTP with a focus on functional (co)polymers including different polymeric architectures and microstructures.