A copolymer comprising imidazole ring units having nitrogen at the 1 and 3 positions of the ring; a carbon at each of the 2, 4 and 5 positions of the ring; and radical substituents G1 and G2 carried at the 4 and 5 positions together with a non-imidazole monomer capable of undergoing addition polymerization. In the imidazole, G1 and G2 are each independently selected from cyano, substituents derived from cyano, and substituents which replace cyano. The invention also provides a method for using the co-polymers as a coupling/activator for synthon synthesis.