Ring opening metathesis polymerization of norbornene and tetracyclododecene with cyclooctene by using (arylimido)vanadium(V)–alkylidene catalyst

Ring opening metathesis polymerizations (ROMP) of norbornene (NBE), tetracyclododecene (TCD) in the presence of cis-cyclooctene (COE) using vanadium-alkylidene catalyst, V(CHSiMe₃)(N-2,6-Cl₂C₆H₃)(OC₆F₅)(PMe₃)₂ ( 1 ), were explored. The polymerizations with TCD afforded high-molecular-weight polymers (M_n = 19,500–47,400) with low PDI (M_w/M_n) values (1.18–1.38) which possess microstructure of repeated ring-opened TCD and certain methylene units by incorporation of ring-opened COE on the basis of microstructure analysis by NMR spectra and DSC thermograms; hydrogenated copolymer possessed melting temperature at 294 °C. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 3067–3074