Block copolymerization of allene derivatives with 1,3-butadiene by living coordination polymerization with π-allylnickel catalyst

The block copolymerization of allene derivatives (3A–3D) with 1,3-butadiene (2) by (allyl)NiOCOCF₃]₂ (1) is described. For instance, the living coordination polymerization of phenylallene (3A, 50 equiv) starting from the living poly(2), which was prepared by the polymerization of 2 (160 equiv) by 1, successfully gave a block copolymer of 2 and 3A in high yield. The molecular weight of the block copolymer (4A) in gel permeation chromatography shifted clearly to the higher molecular weight region and kept a unimodal distribution (M_n = 17,400, M_w/M_n = 1.23) in comparison with that of the starting living poly(2) (M_n = 5,600, M_w/M_n = 1.67). The ratio of each segment and the molecular weight of the resulting copolymers could be controlled by the feed ratio of each monomer. The block copolymerization also proceeded successfully by the inverse order of the monomer feeding (i.e., the polymerization of 3A followed by that of 2) to obtain the corresponding block copolymers in high yields. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 3916–3921, 1999