Degradable vinyl copolymers through thiocarbonyl addition–ring-opening (TARO) polymerization

The radical copolymerization of the thionolactone dibenzoc,eoxepane-5-thione with acrylates, acrylonitrile, and N,N-dimethylacrylamide afforded copolymers containing a controllable amount of backbone thioesters which could be selectively cleaved. The process is compatible with RAFT polymerization and promising for the development of advanced degradable polymers.