A brief overview of the synthetic accessibility of fully rr-conjugated
ladder-type polymers is given. A recent development in this area is t
he synthesis of a 4-(dodecyl) phenyl-substituted Diels-Alder monomer 1
0. This synthesis, first studies of the polymerization of 10, and the
synthesis of model compound 14, which contains 19 condensed unsaturate
d five- and six-membered rings, are described.