Coordination−Insertion Copolymerization of Fundamental Polar Monomers

Propagation and termination steps in Rh-mediated carbene polymerisation using diazomethane

Rh-mediated carbene (co)polymerisation of diazomethane works best in the presence of Rh(III) catalyst precursors, the use of which leads to a significant increase in polymer yield and molecular weight. Chain termination via β-hydride elimination is severely suppressed for these species, although this process does still occur leading to unsaturated chain ends. Subsequent chain walking leading to the formation of branched polymers seems not to occur. Computational studies describing pathways for both chain propagation and chain termination using a (cycloocta-2,5-dien-1-yl)Rh(III)(alkyl) species as a representative model for the active species revealed that chain propagation is favoured for these species, although β-hydride elimination is still viable at the applied reaction temperatures. The computational studies are in excellent agreement with all experimental results, and further reveal that chain propagation via carbene insertion (leading to linear poly-methylene) occurs with a much lower energy barrier than insertion of 1-alkenes into either the Rh-H bond after β-hydride elimination or into the Rh-C bond of the growing polymer chain (leading to branched polymers). These energetic differences conveniently explain why experimentally the formation of branches is not observed in (co)polymerisation reactions employing diazomethane. The formation of substantial amounts of low-M(w) oligomers and dimers in the experimental reactions can be ascribed to the presence of (1,5-cyclooctadiene)Rh(I) species in the reaction mixture, for which chain termination via β-hydride elimination is clearly favoured over chain propagation. These two species stem from a non-selective catalyst activation process during which the catalyst precursors are in situ activated towards carbene polymerisation, and as such the results in this paper might contribute to further improvements of this reaction.

Sequential ROMP of cyclooctenes as a route to linear polyethylene block copolymers

AB diblock copolymers were prepared by sequential ring-opening metathesis polymerization of cyclooctenes catalyzed by a Ru-based Grubbs catalyst. The relatively slow polymerization of cis-3-phenylcyclooct-1-ene (3PC) or cis-cyclooct-2-en-1-yl acetate (3AC) was first carried out and then followed by the faster polymerization of unsubstituted cis-cyclooctene (COE) from the active Ru-alkylidene chain ends. In contrast, simultaneous polymerization of the two monomers provides copolymers with a statistical monomer distribution owing to extensive chain transfer. The resulting poly(3PC-b-COE) and poly(3AC-b-COE) diblock copolymers were subjected to hydrogenation to selectively saturate the backbone alkenes. The consequences of architectural variance between the materials from simultaneous vs. sequential polymerizations are reflected by the contrasting thermal characteristics.

Synthesis of copolymers of ethylene and (meth)acrylates or styrene by an original dual radical/catalytic mechanism

Neutral NiII complexes, classically used for catalytic ethylene polymerization, can play an additional role as radical initiators of the homo- and copolymerizations of (meth)acrylates and styrene. Benefiting from this duality, the copolymerization of ethylene and various (meth)acrylates or styrene was successfully performed. Multiblock copolymers containing sequences of both ethylene and (meth)acrylates were prepared for the first time from an original dual radical/catalytic mechanism.

Synthesis, structure, and ethylene polymerization behavior of nickel complexes based on benzoylmethylenetri(2-alkoxylphenyl)phosphorane

Several new nickel complexes are prepared by the treatment of the stabilized ylide benzoylmethylenetri(2-alkoxylphenyl)phosphorane with Ni(cod)(2) in the presence of PPh(3). X-Ray diffraction studies reveal that a distorted square planar geometry around Ni(II) is adopted. Upon treatment with Ni(cod)(2), the nickel complexes are sufficiently robust for ethylene polymerization. The existence of 2-alkoxyl-aryl substituents on phosphorus improves the catalytic activities. The highest activity (2.1 × 10(6) g mol(-1) h(-1)) is achieved when tri(2-isopropoxy-phenyl)phosphorane is employed (5e), which is one order higher than the corresponding SHOP catalyst. NMR analysis shows that the polyethylene mainly contains terminal double bonds and is highly linear.

Probing the Regiochemistry of Acrylate Catalytic Insertion Polymerization via Cyclocopolymerization of Allyl Acrylate and Ethylene

When palladium phosphine sulfonate catalysts were used, ethylene and allyl acrylate were copolymerized. The copolymer structure was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and was found to contain both δ-valerolactone and γ-butyrolactones inserted within the chain. These cyclic structures were determined to be the outcome of 1,2 allyl insertions and 2,1 acrylate insertions except when the acrylate was cyclopolymerized: in this case, regiochemistry of the insertion was 1,2. This first example of cyclopolymerization with Pd phosphine sulfonate catalysts outlines the extraordinary versatility of this family of compounds and paves the way to new polyolefins containing complex repeat units built in.