Multi-step-growth polymerization

Sequence-controlled Polymers Prepared by Multi-step-growth Polymerization... 

Asides from chain-growth, step-growth, and multi-step growth strategies, sequence-defined polymers may also be prepared using polymerization concepts inspired by biological polymerizations such as replication, transcription, and translation. For instance, sequence-defined templates can be used for monomer sequence regulation in non-natural polymerizations. Alternatively, catalytic molecular machines inspired by biocatalysts such as enzymes and ribozymes have been tested for the synthesis of sequence-controlled polymers. These developments are summarized in this last section of the chapter. 

Biomacromolecules such as proteins derive their function from their three-dimensional shape and the precise functional group placement on the surface and interior of the structure. Also known as the tertiary structure, this shape is a result of a perfectly controlled monomer sequence, or primary structure. Synthetic polymers containing a perfect monomer sequence are inaccessible using contemporary techniques. However, recent advances in polymerization techniques allow for the fabrication of multi-block polymers with narrow molecular weight distributions " and materials with relatively controlled monomer sequences by step-growth and chain-growth... 

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