Diels-Alder Cycloaddition Click Chemistry

Click reactions have rapidly become a new method for the synthesis of drugs, polymers and functional materials because of its high efficiency, high selectivity and reliable characteristics. With the further research of click reactions, the types of them are increasing continuously and the scope of application is also expanding at a fast rate. As an important reaction of click chemistry, Diels-Alder (D-A) reaction not only has high reaction efficiency, but also overcomes the shortcoming of using toxic heavy metal in the copper(I) catalyzed Cue-AAC reaction, so it provides a possible synthetic method for functional materials. Basing on the concept, characteristic and type of D-A reaction, this paper focuses upon the wide applications of D-A reaction in preparation of dendrimers, functional polymers and surface modification. Furthermore, the prospects of D-A reaction are also discussed.