‘One pot’ synthesis of well-defined poly(aminophosphonate)s: time for the Kabachnik–Fields reaction on the stage of polymer chemistry

A multicomponent reaction (MCR) has been carried out on the platform of controlled radical polymerization (CRP) to construct a ‘one pot’ MCR-CRP system for the facile preparation of well-defined functional polymers. In the current work, a novel ‘one pot’ system has been built through a combination of the Kabachnik–Fields (KF) reaction and reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Compared to a traditional stepwise method and polymer post-polymerization modification, this novel ‘one pot’ system exhibited distinct advantages to much more facilely and efficiently prepared well-defined poly(aminophosphonate)s (polyAPPs). A series of unique polyAPPs have also been successfully prepared through this KF–RAFT system, suggesting this novel method is a general and versatile approach to prepare well-defined organophosphorous polymers.