TOWARDS MECHANICALLY-LINKED POLYMERS

This short review describes the progress which is being made towards t he self-assembly of mechanically-linked polymers. A new concept in pol ymer synthesis self-assembly - is demonstrated to have the potential t o create novel high molecular weight polymers which possess repeat uni ts that do not just consist of a main chain backbone built up of entir ely covalent bonds, but are constructed of mechanical linkages compris ed of catenane and rotaxane motifs.