polymersupported

Polymer-supported materials are reagents, catalysts, or ligands covalently attached to an insoluble polymer, creating a heterogeneous system in which the active site is bound to a solid while reactants remain in solution. Common backbones include crosslinked polystyrene-divinylbenzene resins, polyacrylamide, and PEG-based matrices; the swelling behavior of the polymer in the reaction medium governs accessibility to active sites.

Attachment is achieved through linkers such as Wang or Rink amide styles, which connect the active species to the polymer and may be designed to be cleavable under specific conditions to release product at the end of synthesis.

Applications are widespread: polymer-supported reagents are used in solid-phase synthesis (notably peptide and small-molecule libraries), polymer-supported catalysts for heterogeneous catalysis, and solid-phase extraction or affinity assays.

Advantages include easy separation, reduced purification, reusability, and compatibility with automation and high-throughput workflows. However, limitations include diffusion restrictions within the resin, potential leaching of active sites, changes in reactivity compared with homogeneous systems, resin cost, and swelling-dependent performance.

The approach originated with the Merrifield resin for peptide synthesis in the 1960s and has since become integral to combinatorial chemistry and catalysis, with ongoing development of new linkers, supports, and recycling strategies.