The insertion of DOT moieties into the polymer backbone provides a cleavable thioester bond amongst the much more robust C-C bonds. This offers the opportunity for chemical degradation via various routes. Initially, degradation under aminolytic conditions was investigated using isopropylamine (iPrNH 2 ). The degradation kinetics were monitored by SEC over 20 h (Figure ). However, it was found that rapid degradation occurs with maximum molar mass loss being achieved after only 2 h. Furthermore, after 2 h significant degradation was achieved with M n and M w decreasing by 88% and 74%, respectively. The substantial decrease in molar mass was accompanied by an increase in dispersity. Following the kinetic investigation, further degradation studies were performed under different conditions (Table ). Initially, degradation studies using aqueous solutions of iPrNH 2 and NaOH were performed on the copolymers containing DOT moieties. Since the previous study demonstrated rapid degradation (Figure ), the copolymers were only left in aminolytic and basic conditions for 2 h. Despite the relatively short reaction time, the copolymers underwent significant degradation (Table , Figure and b, Figure and S4) -up to 78% decrease in M w (Entry 6 in Table ). In general, copolymers with a higher amount of DOT moieties displayed the greatest reduction in molar mass. Furthermore, a greater reduction in molar mass is observed when starting with a higher molar mass copolymer (compare entries 6 and 7). Notably, minimal reduction of M w was observed for the P(NIPAAm-co-DOT) copolymer (sample 9), decreasing by only 19% and 9% in the presence of iPrNH 2 and NaOH, respectively. This resistance to degradation is most likely due to the hydrophobicity of the copolymer and thus the degradation must proceed via a twophase process. In all cases, the dispersity increases after degradation. This observation is caused by the uneven distribution of DOT along the copolymer backbone. Specifically, DOT reacts quicker than acrylamide resulting in a gradient-type copolymer structure. This results in the formation of copolymers of different molar masses after degradation. Although the dispersity increases for all the samples after degradation, the level of increase is affected by the molar mass, the DOT content, and the extent of degradation. Where, lower molar mass copolymers, copolymers with low DOT content, and copolymers less susceptible to degradation, have narrower post-degradation dispersity compared to the other copolymers.