Factors relevant for the ruthenium-benzylidene-catalyzed cyclopolymerization of 1,6-heptadyines

Fourteen metathesis initiators that had been designed for use in the living polymerization of diethyl dipropargylmalonate (DEDPM), including the Hoveyda catalyst RuCl(2)(IMesH(2))(double bond]CH-2-(2-PrO)bond]C(6)H(4))] (1 a), as well as Ru(CF(3)COO)(2)(IMesH(2))(double bond]CH-2-(2-PrO)bond]C(6)H(4))] (1 b), Ru(CF(3)CF(2)COO)(2)(IMesH(2))(double bond]CH-2-(2-PrO)bond]C(6)H(4))] (1 c), Ru(CF(3)CF(2)CF(2)COO)(2)(IMesH(2))(double bond]CH-2-(2-PrO)bond]C(6)H(4))] (1 d), RuCl(2)(IMesH(2))(double bond]CH-2,4,5-(MeO)(3)bond]C(6)H(2))] (2 a), Ru(CF(3)COO)(2)(IMesH(2))(double bond]CH-2,4,5-(MeO)(3)bond]C(6)H(2))] (2 b), Ru(CF(3)CF(2)COO)(2)(IMesH(2))(double bond]CH-2,4,5-(MeO)(3)bond]C(6)H(2))] (2 c), Ru(CF(3)CF(2)CF(2)COO)(2)(IMesH(2))(double bond]CH-2,4,5-(MeO)(3)bond]C(6)H(2))] (2 d), RuCl(2)(IMes)(double bond]CH-2-(2-PrO)bond]C(6)H(4))] (3 a), Ru(CF(3)COO)(2)(IMes)(double bond]CH-2-(2-PrO)bond]C(6)H(4))] (3 b), RuCl(2)(IMesH(2))(double bond]CH-2-(2-PrO)-5-NO(2)bond]C(6)H(3))] (4 a), Ru(CF(3)COO)(2)(IMesH(2))(double bond]CH-2-(2-PrO)-5-NO(2)bond]C(6)H(3))] (4 b), Ru(CF(3)CF(2)COO)(2)(IMesH(2))(double bond]CH-2-(2-PrO)-5-NO(2)bond]C(6)H(3))] (4 c), and Ru(CF(3)CF(2)CF(2)COO)(2)(IMesH(2))(double bond]CH-2-(2-PrO)-5-NO(2)bond]C(6)H(3))] (4 d) (IMes=1,3-dimesitylimidazol-2-ylidene; IMesH(2)=1,3-dimesityl-4,5-dihydroimidazol-2-ylidene) were prepared. Living polymerization systems could be generated with DEDPM by careful tuning of the electronic nature and steric placement of the ligands. Although 1 a, 2 a, 3 a, 3 b, and 4 a were inactive in the cyclopolymerization of DEDPM, and initiators 1 b-d did not allow any control over molecular weight, initiators 2 b-d and 4 b-d offered access to class VI living polymerization systems. In particular, compounds 2 b and 4 d were superior. The livingness of the systems was demonstrated by linear plots of M(n) versus the number of equivalents of monomer added (N). For initiators 2 b-d and 4 b-d, values for k(p)/k(i) were in the range of 3-7, while 1 b, 1 c, and 1 d showed a k(p)/k(i) ratio of >1000, 80, and 40, respectively. The use of non-degassed solvents did not affect these measurements and underlined the high stability of these initiators. The effective conjugation length (N(eff)) was calculated from the UV/Vis absorption maximum (lambda(max)). The final ruthenium content in the polymers was determined to be 3 ppm.