11. General information on chemical modification

The aim of this section is to show the growing importance of chemical modification in macromolecular synthesis and its industrial development. The transfer of major reactions from organic chemistry to macromolecular chemistry is demonstrated. The corresponding techniques are described. Examples show the diversity of their applications, particularly in the field of macromolecular reagents and pharmacology.

The chemical modification of polymers has been the subject of numerous studies, albeit scattered and without any attempt at systematization. In theory, any organic chemical reaction can be applied to a polymer; however, the mechanisms and kinetics can be very different for a polymer and for a molecule, modeling its monomer unit, and often of low molar mass. However, a number of monographs and books attempt to synthesize the results obtained in this field...