Cationic polymerization of hydrocarbon monomers induced by complexes of acyl halides with Lewis acids

The ionic complex of mesitoyl bromide with aluminum bromide in a 1∶1 composition (Mst-1) does not initiate the isobutylene polymerization inn-hexane or methylene dichloride at −78 °C. The corresponding ionic complex of the 1∶2 composition (Mst-2) acts as a cationogenic initiator of the polymerization. The addition of excess Lewis acid or introduction of organic electron acceptors increases the initiating activity of the Mst-1 complex and activates acyl complexes of the 1∶2 composition including Mst-2. The results are discussed in terms of the effect of specific solvation on the nucleophilicity of counteranions, which makes the addition of the monomer to the carbocation possible. For Part 9, see Ref. 1. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 52–56, January, 1998.