Click chemistry in materials synthesis. 1. Adhesive polymers from copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition

The copper(I)-catalyzed cycloaddition reaction between azides and alkynes has been employed to make metal-adhesive materials. Copper and brass surfaces supply the necessary catalytic Cu ions, and thus the polymerization process occurs selectively on these metals in the absence of added catalysts. Alternatively, copper compounds can be added to monomer mixtures and then introduced to reducing metal surfaces such as zinc to initiate polymerization. The resulting materials were found to possess comparable or superior adhesive strength to standard commercial glues, and structure-activity correlations have identified several important properties of the monomers.