Boron/titanium/aluminium systems

The mechanism of initiation of cationic polymerisations by metal halides was clarified and systematized to some extent by the discovery of the phenomenon of co-catalysis or co-initiation. But, whereas there was, by the mid-1960s, good evidence that at any rate in many systems the halides of boron, titanium, and tin required a co-initiator, the position with regard to the best-known and most popular initiator, and the one which was of greatest economic significance, aluminium chloride, remained obscure. Of the vast number of published experiments on the system, aluminium chloride + isobutylene, hardly any could provide evidence concerning the initiation reaction, because they were almost exclusively concerned with measurements of yields and degree of polymerisation (DP). 

Allyl silanes react with a wide variety of electrophiles, rather like the ones that react with silyl enol ethers, provided they are activated, usually by a Lewis acid. Titanium tetrachloride is widely used but other successful Lewis acids include boron trifluoride, aluminium chloride, and trim ethyls ilyl tri-flate. Electrophiles include the humble proton generated from acetic add. The regiocontrol is complete. No reaction is observed at the other end of the allylic system. All our examples are on the allyl silane we prepared earlier in the chapter. 

It may be noted that homogeneous cationic polymerization of ethylene oxide also generally leads to low molecular weight products typical initiators include aluminium chloride, boron trifluoride and titanium tetrachloride. Systems of this type are not utilized on a commercial scale. 

---