Chemists develop new sustainable reaction for creating unique molecular building blocks

Polymers can be thought of like trains: Just as a train is composed of multiple cars, polymers are made up of multiple monomers, and the couplings between the train cars are similar to the chemical bonds that link monomers together. While polymers have myriad applications—from drug delivery to construction materials—their structures and functions are restricted by the chemically similar monomer building blocks they're composed of.