Principles of Dynamic Covalent Chemistry

This chapter describes the underlying features of dynamic covalent chemistry (DCvC), followed by a short exposé over the toolbox of reversible covalent reactions available today. Furthermore, it highlights some of the analytical challenges in DCvC. DCvC allows access to highly advanced molecular architectures where the form and shape is dictated by thermodynamics. DCvC has found extensive use in, for example, materials science, nanochemistry, catalysis, surface chemistry, chemical biology, and analytical sensing. The chapter also focuses on expanding the theory of dynamic covalent bonds into more concrete examples. These include descriptions of most of the reversible covalent reactions, along with their characteristics. A majority of all reversible covalent bonds belong to the class of dynamic polar reactions, which means they pass through charged reactive intermediates during the exchange process. The chapter discusses the main type of bond that is formed or broken during the exchange process.