Polyester oligodiols by cationic AM copolymerization of L,L‐lactide and ε‐caprolactone initiated by diols

Cationic copolymerization of L,L ‐lactide (LA) and ε‐caprolactone (CL) initiated by low molecular weight diols in the presence of acid catalyst gives corresponding copolyesters terminated at both ends with hydroxyl groups in practically quantitative yield. Copolymerization proceeds by Activated Monomer mechanism. LA is consumed preferentially and at the later stages of copolymerization the reaction mixture is enriched with CL. In spite of that, random distribution of both units is observed and end‐groups are mainly ? LA‐OH groups and not ? CL‐OH groups. This is explained by the fact that to reach high conversion of both comonomers the relatively long reaction times are required and at those conditions transesterification reaction becomes significant. Thus the microstructure of copolymers and the nature of the end‐groups is governed by transesterification rather then by the kinetics of comonomers incorporation. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3090–3097, 2007     

Polymerization of 1,3‐dienes and styrene catalyzed by cationic allyl Ni(II) complexes

Polymerizations of 1,3‐dienes using in situ generated catalyst [(2‐methallyl)Ni][B(Ar_F)₄], 6 , (Ar_F = 3,5‐bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl) as well as [(2‐methallyl)Ni(mes)][B(Ar_F)₄], 14 , (mes = mesitylene) are reported. Highly sensitive complex 6 polymerizes butadiene (BD) at –30 °C to yield polybutadiene with a M_n of ca. 10 K and 94% cis‐1,4‐enchainment while less reactive isoprene (IP) was polymerized at 23 °C to yield polyisoprene with M_n ca. 7 K. Complex 6 was also shown to polymerize a functionalized diene, 2,3‐bis(4‐trifluoroethoxy‐4‐oxobutyl)‐1,3‐BD, to polymer with M_n = 113 K. The stable and readily isolated arene complex 14 initiates BD and IP polymerizations at somewhat higher temperatures relative to 6 and delivers polymers with higher molecular weights. Complex [(allyl)Ni(mes)][B(Ar_F)₄], 13 , catalyzes polymerization of styrene to yield polystyrene with high conversion, M_n's = ca. 6 K and MWD = 2. The π‐benzyl complex [(η³‐1‐methylbenzyl)Ni(mes)] [B(Ar_F)₄], 19 , was detected as an intermediate following chain transfer by in situ NMR studies. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 1901–1912, 2010     

Ethylene–propylene copolymerization with bis(β‐enaminoketonato) titanium complexes activated with modified methylaluminoxane

Ethylene–propylene copolymerization, using [(Ph)NC(R₂)CHC(R₁)O]₂TiCl₂ (R₁ = CF₃, Ph, or t‐Bu; R₂ = CH₃ or CF₃) titanium complexes activated with modified methylaluminoxane as a cocatalyst, was investigated. High‐molecular‐weight ethylene–propylene copolymers with relatively narrow molecular weight distributions and a broad range of chemical compositions were obtained. Substituents R₁ and R₂ influenced the copolymerization behavior, including the copolymerization activity, methylene sequence distribution, molecular weight, and polydispersity. With small steric hindrance at R₁ and R₂, one complex (R₁ = CF₃; R₂ = CH₃) displayed high catalytic activity and produced copolymers with high propylene incorporation but low molecular weight. The microstructures of the copolymers were analyzed with ¹³C NMR to determine the methylene sequence distribution and number‐average sequence lengths of uninterrupted methylene carbons. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5846–5854, 2006     

Vinyl homo/copolymerization of norbornene and ethylene using sterically enhanced 1,2‐bis(arylimino)acenaphthene–palladium precatalysts

A family of unsymmetrical 1,2‐bis(imino)acenaphthene‐palladium methyl chloride complexes [1‐[2,6‐{(C₆H₅)₂CH}₂‐ 4‐{C(CH₃)₃}‐C₆H₂N]‐2‐(ArN)C₂C₁₀H₆]PdMeCl (Ar = 2,6‐Me₂Ph Pd1 , 2,6‐Et₂Ph Pd2 , 2,6‐ⁱPr₂Ph Pd3 , 2,4,6‐Me₃Ph Pd4 , 2,6‐Et₂‐4‐MePh Pd5 ) have been prepared and fully characterized by ¹H/¹³C NMR, FTIR spectroscopies, and elemental analysis. X‐ray diffraction analysis of Pd2 complex revealed a square planar geometry. Upon activation with methylaluminoxane, all the palladium complexes displayed high activities for norbornene (NBE) homo‐polymerization producing insoluble polymer. For the copolymerization of NBE with ethylene, Pd4 complex exhibited good activities with high incorporation of ethylene (up to 59.2–77.4%) and the resultant copolymer showed high molecular weights as maximum as 150.5 kg mol⁻¹. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018 , 56, 922–930     

Ethylene/α‐olefin copolymerization with bis(β‐enaminoketonato) titanium complexes activated with modified methylaluminoxane

Copolymerizations of ethylene with α‐olefins (i.e., 1‐hexene, 1‐octene, allylbenzene, and 4‐phenyl‐1‐butene) using the bis(β‐enaminoketonato) titanium complexes [(Ph)NC(R₂)CHC(R₁)O]₂TiCl₂ ( 1a : R₁ = CF₃, R₂ = CH₃; 1b : R₁ = Ph, R₂ = CF₃; and 1c : R₁ = t‐Bu, R₂ = CF₃), activated with modified methylaluminoxane as a cocatalyst, have been investigated. The catalyst activity, comonomer incorporation, and molecular weight, and molecular weight distribution of the polymers produced can be controlled over a wide range by the variation of the catalyst structure, α‐olefin, and reaction parameters such as the comonomer feed concentration. The substituents R₁ and R₂ of the ligands affect considerably both the catalyst activity and comonomer incorporation. Precatalyst 1a exhibits high catalytic activity and produces high‐molecular‐weight copolymers with high α‐olefin insertion. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 6323–6330, 2005     

Synthesis of polyesters with pendant oxetane groups by the chemoselective alternating copolymerization of 3‐ethyl‐3‐(glycidyloxymethyl)oxetane with carboxylic anhydride and its photochemical reaction

The synthesis of polyesters with pendant oxetane groups by the chemoselective alternating copolymerization of 3‐ethyl‐3‐(glycidyloxymethyl)oxetane (EGMO) with carboxylic anhydride and the photochemical reaction of the resulting polymer was examined. The alternating copolymerization of EGMO with phthalic anhydride proceeded chemoselectively with quaternary onium salts under appropriate reaction conditions, and the corresponding soluble polymers with pendant oxetane groups with number‐average molecular weights of 4700–7200 were obtained in 72–87% yields. Furthermore, the photochemical reaction of the resulting polymers was examined with certain photoacid generators in the film state upon UV irradiation, and it was found that the photocrosslinking reaction of the pendant oxetane groups proceeded smoothly to give the insoluble polymers. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1952–1961, 2003     

Highly symmetric single nickel catalysts bearing bulky bis(α‐diimine) ligand: Synthesis,characterization, and electron‐effects on copolymerization of norbornene with 1‐alkene at elevated temperarure

Three new three‐dimensional geometry bulky α‐diimine ligands ( L ) containing electron‐donating and electron‐withdrawing groups, 9,10‐dihydro‐9,10‐ethanoanthracene‐11,12‐di(Ar)imine (Ar = p‐PhCH₃, L1 ; Ar=p‐PhCl, L2 ; Ar=p‐PhCF₃, L3 .), and their corresponding single Ni(II) catalysts, NiL₂Br₂ ( Ni(L1)₂Br₂ , Ni(L2)₂Br₂ , and Ni(L3)₂Br₂ , were synthesized and the molecular structure were determined by X‐ray crystallography. All NiL₂Br₂ catalysts were tested for norbornene polymerization and copolymerization of norbornene with 1‐alkene after activation with B(C₆F₅)₃. The results that the polymerization catalytic activities for norbornene up to 10⁵ g_polymer/mol_Ni·h even at 140 °C, shown that NiL₂Br₂ catalysts have high thermal stability. Meanwhile, catalysts with electron‐withdrawing groups could achieve higher reactivity. The obtained poly(NB‐co‐1‐alkene)s were confirmed to be vinyl‐addition copolymers and noncrystalline. All copolymers exhibited high 1‐alkenes insertion ratio, good thermal stability (T_d > 375 °C), high molecular weight (up to 10⁵ g/mol), good solubility in common organic solvents and could be processed into films with good transparency in the visible region. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 3495–3505     

Biomimetic carbocationic polymerizations III: Investigation of isoprene polymerization initiated by dimethyl allyl bromide

Natural rubber (poly(1,4‐cis‐isoprene), NR) is a polymer of considerable industrial importance due to its exceptional properties. It is mostly produced from the cultivation of Hevea brasiliensis, and to a limited extent from Parthenium argentatum. Till date none of the synthetic equivalent of NR exists. Recently we suggested that the mechanism of NR biosynthesis is based on carbocationic polymerization, similarly to that of natural oligoisoprenoids forming by enzyme‐catalyzed prenylation. In this article we present proof of concept of a new bio‐inspired synthetic route towards the synthesis of polyisoprenes based on carbocationic polymerization initiated by dimethyl allyl bromide (DMABr)/TiCl₄. It is shown that using this strategy, 1,4‐oligoisoprene carrying a dimethyl allyl head group is produced in both cis and trans configurations, together with cyclized sequences. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 2172–2180, 2009     

Ethylene polymerization and ethylene/hexene copolymerization by vanadium(III) complexes bearing bidentate phenoxy‐phosphine oxide ligands

A series of novel vanadium(III) complexes bearing bidentate phenoxy‐phosphine oxide [O,P=O] ligands, (2‐R₁‐4‐R₂‐6‐Ph₂P=O‐C₆H₂O)VCl₂(THF)₂ ( 2a : R₁ = R₂ = H; 2b : R₁ = F, R₂ = H; 2c : R₁ = tBu, R₂ = H; 2d : R₁ = Ph, R₂ = H; 2e : R₁ = R₂ = Me; 2f : R₁ = R₂ = tBu; 2g : R₁ = R₂ = CMe₂Ph) have been synthesized by adding 1 equiv of the ligand to VCl₃(THF)₃ dropwise in the presence of excess triethylamine. Under the same conditions, the adding of VCl₃(THF)₃ to 2.0 equiv of the ligand afforded vanadium(III) complexes bearing two [O,P=O] ligands ( 3c , 3f ). All the complexes were characterized by FTIR and mass spectra as well as elemental analysis. Structures of complexes 2c and 3c were further confirmed by X‐ray crystallographic analysis. On activation with Et₂AlCl and ethyl trichloroacetate, these complexes displayed high catalytic activities for ethylene polymerization (up to 26.4 kg PE/mmol_V·h·bar) even at high reaction temperature (70 °C) indicative of high thermal stability, and produced high molecular weight polymers with unimodal molecular weight distributions. Additionally, the complexes with optimized structure exhibited high catalytic activities for ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization. Catalytic activity, comonomer incorporation, and polymer molecular weight can be controlled in a wide range via the variation of catalyst structure and the reaction parameters such as Al/V molar ratio, comonomer feed concentration, and reaction temperature. The monomer reactivity ratios r_E and r_H were determined according to ¹³C NMR spectra, which indicated these complexes preferred ethylene to 1‐hexene in the copolymerization. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 5298–5306     

Ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization with tetramethyldisiloxane‐bridged bis(indenyl) metallocenes

Ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerizations with disiloxane‐bridged metallocenes, rac‐ and meso‐1,1,3,3‐tetramethyldisiloxanediyl‐bis(1‐indenyl)zirconium dichloride (rac‐ 1 , meso‐ 1 ) activated by modified methylaluminoxane were performed to investigate the influence of conformational dynamics on comonomer selectivity. Although ¹H NOESY (nuclear Overhauser and exchange spectroscopy) analysis indicated that the most stable conformation for the meso isomer in solution was that in which both indenes project over the metal coordination site, this isomer showed higher 1‐hexene selectivity in copolymerization (r_e = 140 ± 30, r_h = 0.024 ± 0.004) than the rac isomer with only one indene over the coordination site (r_e = 240 ± 20, r_h = 0.005 ± 0.001). The meso isomer showed high 1‐hexene selectivity, a high product of reactivity ratios (r_er_h = 3.3 ± 0.5) and produced copolymers that could be separated into fractions with different ethylene content suggesting that the active species exhibited multisite behavior and populated conformations with different comonomer selectivities during the copolymerization. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 3323–3331, 2004     

Copolymerization of ethylene and cyclopentene with bis(β‐enaminoketonato) titanium complexes

The copolymerizations of ethylene and cyclopentene with bis(β‐enaminoketonato) titanium complexes {[(Ph)NC(R₂)CHC(R₁)O]₂TiCl₂; R₁ = CF₃ and R₂ = CH₃ for 1a , R₁ = Ph and R₂ = CF₃ for 1b ; and R₁ = t‐Bu and R₂ = CF₃ for 1c } activated with modified methylaluminoxane (MMAO) as a cocatalyst were investigated. High‐molecular‐weight copolymers with cis‐1,2‐cyclopentene units were obtained. The catalyst activity, cyclopentene incorporation, polymer molecular weight, and polydispersity could be controlled over a wide range through the variation of the catalyst structure and reaction parameters, such as the Al/Ti molar ratio, cyclopentene feed concentration, and polymerization reaction temperature. The complex 1b /MMAO catalyst system exhibited the characteristics of a quasi‐living ethylene polymerization and an ethylene–cyclopentene copolymerization and allowed the synthesis of polyethylene‐block‐poly(ethylene‐co‐cyclopentene) diblock copolymer. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 1681–1689, 2005     

Highly active ethylene polymerization and copolymerization with norbornene using bis(imino‐indolide) titanium dichloride–MAO system

A catalytic system of new titanium complexes with methylaluminoxane (MAO) was found to effectively polymerize ethylene for high molecular weight polyethylene as well as highly active copolymerization of ethylene and norbornene. The bis (imino‐indolide)titanium dichlorides (L₂TiCl₂, 1 – 5 ), were prepared by the reaction of N‐((3‐chloro‐1H‐indol‐2‐yl)methylene)benzenamines with TiCl₄, and characterized by elemental analysis, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. The solid‐state structures of 1 and 4 were determined by X‐ray diffraction analysis to reveal the six‐coordinated distorted octahedral geometry around the titanium atom with a pair of chlorides and ligands in cis‐forms. Upon activation by MAO, the complexes showed high activity for homopolymerization of ethylene and copolymerization of ethylene and norbornene. A positive “comonomer effect” was observed for copolymerization of ethylene and norbornene. Both experimental observations and paired interaction orbital (PIO) calculations indicated that the titanium complexes with electron‐withdrawing groups in ligands performed higher catalytic activities than those possessing electron‐donating groups. Relying on different complexes and reaction conditions, the resultant polyethylenes had the molecular weights M_w in the range of 200–2800 kg/mol. The influences on both catalytic activity and polyethylene molecular weights have been carefully checked with the nature of complexes and reaction conditions. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3415–3430, 2007     

Highly cis‐1,4 selective polymerization of isoprene promoted by α‐diimine cobalt(II) chlorides

A series of 1,2‐bis(arylimino)acenaphthylenes ( L1 – L5 ) was synthesized and reacted with CoCl₂ to afford the corresponding cobalt complexes LCoCl₂ ( C1 – C5 ). All cobalt complexes have been fully characterized and in the case of C1 by single crystal X‐ray diffraction; its molecular structure reveals a distorted tetrahedral geometry. On activation with AlEtCl₂, C1 – C5 efficiently polymerize isoprene to give polyisoprenes (PIs) with high contents of cis‐1,4 units (between 90% and 94%). The influence of reaction temperature and [Al]/[Co] molar ratio on both catalytic performance and the microstructural properties of the PIs is investigated. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 3609–3615.     

Synthesis of multihydroxyl branched polyethers by cationic copolymerization of 3,3‐bis(hydroxymethyl)oxetane and 3‐ethyl‐3‐(hydroxymethyl)oxetane

The cationic ring‐opening polymerization of 3,3‐bis(hydroxymethyl)oxetane (BHMO) and the copolymerization of BHMO with 3‐ethyl‐3‐(hydroxymethyl)oxetane (EOX) were studied. Medium molecular weight polymers (number‐average molecular weight ≈ 2 × 10³) were obtained in bulk polymerization. Poly[3,3‐bis(hydroxymethyl)oxetane], as highly insoluble, was only characterized by gel permeation chromatography and NMR methods in the esterified form. Copolymers of BHMO and EOX that were slightly soluble in organic solvents were characterized in more detail. In a copolymerization from a 1:1 mixture, the comonomers were consumed at equal rates. Matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight analysis confirmed that a random 1:1 copolymer was formed. ¹³C NMR analysis indicated that in contrast to previously described homopolymers of EOX in which the degree of branching was limited, the homopolymers of BHMO were highly branched. This pattern was preserved in the copolymers; EOX units were predominantly linear, whereas BHMO units were predominantly branched. The copolymerization of BHMO with EOX provides, therefore, a route to multihydroxyl branched‐polyethers with various degrees of branching containing ? OH groups exclusively as ≡C? CH₂? OH units. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 1991–2002, 2002     

Ethylene polymerization and ethylene/hexene copolymerization with vanadium(III) catalysts bearing heteroatom‐containing salicylaldiminato ligands

A series of novel vanadium(III) complexes bearing heteroatom‐containing group‐substituted salicylaldiminato ligands [RN?CH(ArO)]VCl₂(THF)₂ (Ar = C₆H₄, R = C₃H₂NS, 2a ; C₇H₄NS, 2c ; C₇H₅N₂, 2d ; Ar = C₆H₂tBu₂ (2,4), R = C₃H₂NS, 2b ) have been synthesized and characterized. Structure of complex 2c was further confirmed by X‐ray crystallographic analysis. The complexes were investigated as the catalysts for ethylene polymerization in the presence of Et₂AlCl. Complexes 2a–d exhibited high catalytic activities (up to 22.8 kg polyethylene/mmol_V h bar), and affording polymer with unimodal molecular weight distributions at 25–70 °C in the first 5‐min polymerization, whereas produced bimodal molecular weight distribution polymers at 70 °C when polymerization time prolonged to 30 min. The catalyst structure plays an important role in controlling the molecular weight and molecular weight distribution of the resultant polymers produced in 30 min polymerization. In addition, ethylene/hexene copolymerizations with catalysts 2a–d were also explored in the presence of Et₂AlCl, which leads to the high molecular weight and unimodal distributions copolymers with high comonomer incorporation. Catalytic activity, comonomer incorporation, and polymer molecular weight can be controlled over a wide range by the variation of catalyst structure and the reaction parameters, such as comonomer feed concentration, polymerization time, and polymerization reaction temperature. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 3573–3582, 2009     

Cationic copolymerization behavior of epoxide and 3‐isochromanone

Cationic copolymerization of n‐butyl glycidyl ether (BGE) and 3‐isochromanone (ICM) was investigated using trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TfOH) as an initiator at 100 °C. In the copolymerization, the reactive site of ICM with the propagating cation was completely different from that in its homopolymerization: in the former, the propagating cation reacted with the carbonyl oxygen of ICM, while in the latter, the propagating cation reacted with the aromatic ring of ICM. In spite of the potential of ICM to undergo the homopolymerization, in the present copolymerization, ICM was consumed smoothly only in the presence of epoxide. As a result, the copolymerization proceeded in a statistic manner to afford the corresponding copolymer bearing ICM‐derived ester linkages distributed in the main chain. Cationic copolymerization of bisphenol A‐diglycidyl ether and ICM was also performed to synthesize the corresponding networked polymer. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 4213–4220     

Ni(II) and Pd(II) complexes bearing benzocyclohexane–ketoarylimine for copolymerization of norbornene with 5‐norbornene‐2‐carboxylic ester

A serial of late transition metal complexes, which bearing Benzocyclohexane–ketoarylimine ligand and named as Mt(benzocyclohexane–ketoarylimino)₂ {Mt(bchkai)₂: Mt=Ni or Pd; bchkai=C₁₀H₈(O)CN(Ar)CH₃; Ar=naphthyl or fluoryl}, have been synthesized and characterized. The molecular structures of the ligands and nickel complex have been confirmed by X‐ray single‐crystal analyses. The nickel complexes exhibited very high activity up to 2.7 × 10⁵ g_polymer/mol_Ni·h and palladium complexes showed high activity up to 2.3 × 10⁵ g_polymer/mol_Pd·h for norbornene (NB) homo‐polymerization with tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane as cocatalyst. The four complexes were effective for copolymerization of NB and 5‐norbornene‐2‐carboxylic acid methyl ester (NB‐COOCH₃) in relatively high activities (0.1–2.4 × 10⁵ g_polymer/mol_Mt·h) and produced the addition‐type copolymers with relatively high molecular weights (0.5 × 10⁵–1.2 × 10⁵ g/mol) as well as narrow molecular weight distributions (PDI < 2 for all polymers). Influences of the metals and comonomer feed content on the polymerization activity as well as on the incorporation rates (20.9–42.6%) were investigated. The achieved NB/NB‐COOCH₃ copolymers were confirmed to be noncrystalline, exhibited good thermal stability (T_d > 400°C) and showed good solubility in common organic solvents. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Cationic copolymerization of racemic‐β‐butyrolactone with L,L‐lactide: One‐pot synthesis of block copolymers

Cationic copolymerization of racemic‐β‐butyrolactone (β‐BL) with l,l ‐lactide (LA) initiated by alcohol and catalyzed by trifluoromethanesulfonic acid proceeding by activated monomer (AM) mechanism was investigated. Although both comonomers were present from the beginning in the reaction mixture, polymerization proceeded in sequential manner, with poly‐BL formed at the first stage acting as a macroinitiator for the subsequent polymerization of LA. Such course of copolymerization was confirmed by following the consumption of both comonomers throughout the process as well as by observing the changes of growing chain‐end structure using ¹H NMR. ¹³C NMR analysis and thermogravimetry revealed the block structure of resulting copolymers. The proposed mechanism of copolymerization was confirmed by the studies of changes of ¹H NMR chemical shift of acidic proton in the course of copolymerization, providing an indication that indeed protonated species and hydroxyl groups are present throughout the process, as required for AM mechanism. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 4873–4884