Synthesis and applications of biomedical and pharmaceutical polymers via click chemistry methodologies.

In this review, the synthesis and application of biomedical and pharmaceutical polymers synthesized via the copper(I)-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition, the thiol-ene reaction, or a combination of both click reactions are discussed. Since the introduction of both "click" methods, numerous articles have disclosed new approaches for the synthesis of polymers with different architectures, e.g., block and graft copolymers, dendrimers, and hydrogels, for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. By describing selected examples, an overview is given of the possibilities and limitations that these two "click" methods may offer.