This article provides an overview and a critical evaluation on the synthesis and characterization of ladder polymers, with regard to such aspects as structural regularity and processibility of the materials. Hereby, the review focuses on synthetic principles defining further progress in the field of ladder polymer synthesis (Diels-Alder-polymerizations as a concerted process of ladder formation, the polymer-analogous bridging of single-stranded precursors as an example for the stepwise generation of ribbon structures). Scope and limitations of the novel synthetic routes are discussed in detail.
Furthermore, particular consideration is given to the tuning of attractive electronic properties for potential applications (nonlinear optics, electroluminescence).