The invention describes novel coating agents that include a polymer, one or more latent reactive groups and one or more noncovalent linking groups, the noncovalent linking groups selected to interact with a substrate to which the coating agent is applied. The coating agents are useful for providing a coating that can be further functionalized (for example, by application of additional coating layers), or for providing desirable properties to a surface.

The invention describes novel coating agents that include a polymer, one or more latent reactive groups and one or more noncovalent linking groups, the noncovalent linking groups selected to interact with a substrate to which the coating agent is applied.