Catalytic polymerization of phenylacetylene by cationic rhodium and iridium complexes of ferrocene-based ligands

Some new Rh(I) and Ir(I) complexes of the types (COD)M(LL)]ClO₄ and (COD)MCl]₂ COD = cyclooctadiene; M = Rh, Ir; LL = 1,1′-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene (DPPF), 1-diphenylphosphino-2-(N,N-dimethylamino)methylferrocene (FcNP), 1,6-diferrocenyl-2,5-diazahexane (FcNN)] were prepared, and their catalytic activities toward polymerization of phenyl acetylene were examined. The rhodium complexes proved to be very effective catalysts to yield highly stereoregular polyphenylacetylene (cis-transoidal-PPA) in high yields under mild conditions. The number-average molecular weight (M _n) of the PPA obtained is in the range of 19,000–33,000 and the weight-average molecular weight (M _ω) is in the range of 47,000–95,000. Comparative studies revealed that of various catalysts employed, the cationic mononuclear Rh(FcNN)(COD)]ClO₄ complex exhibited the best results to give exclusively the cis-transoidal-PPA (cis content ∼100%) with the highest molecular weight (M _n = 33,340) in the highest chemical yield (94%). Other reaction parameters such as the softness of the ligand, the solvent, the relative amount of catalyst, and the reaction temperature were also investigated to find that all these factors played crucial roles. The iridium systems worked better for the trimerization rather than polymerization to yield 1,3,5-triphenybenzene as major product. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.