Precision comonomer sequence enables selective thermodynamic degradation of vinyl copolymers

The efficient and selective degradation of robust polymers with all-carbon backbones remains a significant challenge in polymer recycling. In the May issue of Nature Chemistry, Hong et al. report the facile degradation of vinyl copolymers via C–C bond cleavage of the backbone to generate pharmaceutically relevant molecules through a process uniquely driven by comonomer-sequence-regulated aromatization.