Synthesis and Properties of Cyclic Polymers

Thousands of polymeric materials have been made into synthetic polymers, based on a linear structure, and used in commercial applications. The study of synthetic polymeric materials has focused on those derived from long chain linear molecules. Alternatively, cyclic polymers (also referred to as polymer rings or macrocycles) can be prepared, which not only can be branched or cross-linked, but can also form noncovalently linked structures based on their loop topology. Through a number of different approaches and advances in cyclization techniques, a wide range of novel cyclic polymers have been synthesized in good yields. This review will focus on a variety of synthetic methods and some properties of cyclic polymers using many polymerization mechanisms in various fields of polymer synthesis.