Supramolecular Polymers and Networkswith Hydrogen Bonds in the Main- and Side-Chain

Control of polymeric structure is among the most important endeavors of modern macromolecularscience. In particular, tailoring the positioning and strength of intermolecular forces within macromoleculesby synthetic methods and thus gaining structural control over the final polymeric materials has becomefeasible, resulting in the field of supramolecular polymer science. Besides other intermolecularforces, hydrogen bonds are unique intermolecular forces enabling the tuning of material propertiesvia self-assembly processes over a wide range of interaction strength ranging from several kJ mol

−1

to several tens of kJ mol

−1

. The present review provides anoverview of hydrogen-bonded polymers, with a focus directed towards the type of hydrogen bondas well as their effect on the final, ordered materials. Thus, the ordering effects of single-, double-,triple-, quadruple and multiple hydrogen bonds are discussed separately. Furthermore, various architecturesas well as the use of hydrogen bonds on planar surfaces to assemble quasipolymeric structures arediscussed.