Phase transfer Pd(0) catalyzed polymerization reactions. III. Polymerization by cross-coupling of alkyl–boron compounds and aromatic halides catalyzed by PdCl2 (dppf) and bases

This paper describes a novel polymerization reaction which consists of a sequence of hydroboration of a diolefin with 9-borabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane (9-BBN) followed by the intermolecular cross-coupling of the resulting 1,1′-bis(B-alkanediyl-9-borabicyclo[3.3.1]nonanes with dihaloarenes. The reaction is performed in the presence of dichloro[1,1′-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene] palladium (II) [PdCl₂ (dppf)], a base, and a phase transfer catalyst. Both steps are performed in the same reaction flask. Alternatively, this polymerization reaction can be applied to bifunctional monomers containing an olefin and a haloarene group, for example, p-bromostyrene.