Development of synthetic double helical polymers and oligomers

There is growing interest in the design and synthesis of artificial helical polymers and oligomers, in connection with biological importance as well as development of novel chiral materials. Since the discovery of the helical structure of isotactic polypropylene, a significant advancement has been achieved for synthetic polymers and oligomers with a single helical conformation for about half a century. In contrast, the chemistry of double helical counterparts is still premature. This short review highlights the recent advances in the synthesis, structures, and functions of double helical polymers and oligomers, featuring an important role of supramolecular chemistry in the design and synthesis of double helices. Although the artificial double helices reported to date are still limited in number, recent advancement of supramolecular chemistry provides plenty of structural motifs for new designs. Therefore, artificial double helices hold great promise as a new class of compounds. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 5195–5207, 2009