The invention is directed to methods and compositions for aqueous-compatible solid phase chemical ligation. The methods and compositions of the invention involve the chemical ligation of first and second polymers, where the first polymer is attached to a support through a displaceable linker. The displaceable linker can be cleaved or otherwise displaced under aqueous conditions compatible with subsequent removal of the ligation product from the solid support. The methods and compositions of the invention are particularly useful for ligation of peptides and polypeptides on a solid support. The ligation system of the invention is applicable to a wide variety of molecules, and thus can be exploited to generate ligated polymers including peptides, polypeptides and other amino acid containing polymers.