Functional reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT) agent was developed to have a cyclopropenone-masked dibenzocyclooctyne end group. RAFT polymerization was then explored on three typical types of vinyl monomers in free radical polymerization such as styrene, methyl methacrylate, and tert-butyl acrylate. The living polymerization behaviors were demonstrated for all three cases, which guaranteed the production of well-defined polystyrene, poly (methyl methacrylate), and poly (tert-butyl acrylate) end-functionalized with cyclopropenone-masked dibenzocyclooctyne groups from the convenient RAFT polymerization technique. Under UV irradiation, the cyclopropenonemasked dibenzocyclooctyne end group could be quantitatively changed to dibenzocyclooctyne clickable group, which was widely used in the metal-free strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC) click reaction. Subsequently, using the dibenzocyclooctyne end-functionalized polymers as building blocks, a practical and efficient metal-free method was developed for the formation of topological polymers including block and bottlebrush polymers based on the SPAAC click reaction. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.