The Bergman cyclization has strongly impacted on a number of fields including pharmaceutics, synthetic chemistry, and material science. The diradical intermediates stemmed from enediynes can not only cause DNA cleavage under physiological conditions but also function as monomer or initiator participants in polymer science. The homo-polymerization of enediynes through the Bergman cyclization to fabricate conjugated polymers is a fascinating strategy due to the advantages of facial operation, high efficiency, tailored structure, and catalyst-free operation. Moreover, conjugated polymers generated through the Bergman cyclization show many remarkable properties, such as excellent thermal stability, good solubility, and processability, which enables these polymers to be further manufactured into carbon-rich materials. Recent times have seen extensive efforts devoted to the application of the Bergman cyclization in polymer science and materials chemistry. A variety of synthetic strategies have been developed to fabricate structurally unique materials via the Bergman cyclization, including the fabrication of rod-like polymers with polyester, dendrimers and chiral imide side chains, functionalization of carbon nanomaterials by surface-grafting conjugated polymers, formation of nanoparticles by intramolecular collapse of single polymer chains, and the construction of carbon nanomembranes with different morphologies. Future developments involving the Bergman cyclization in polymer science, probably by altering the reaction mechanism to precisely control the microstructure of polymeric products, are also proposed in this review article.
