Polymerization coordinate

A further significant factor which comes to the fore in coordinate catalysis is stereoregular polymerization. A number of the catalyst systems are capable of producing isotactic, optically active and/or crystalline polymers. Except for Price s potassium t-butoxide system [21], this has not been observed in anionic or cationic polymerization. Thus, in addition 

Kinetic studies [32] with a diethylzinc/water catalyst showed two distinct rates. A relatively fast rate in the first 5—10% of polymerization 

A more recent kinetic study of PO polymerization catalysed by the related diethylzinc/alcohol system has been reported by Furukawa and Kumata [33]. They conclude that the kinetic features of the polymerization are best interpreted by assuming a dimerization equilibrium of zinc alkoxide and reversible association of the catalyst dimer with PO to form the active species for polymerization. Their conclusions are based on their observation that the dependence of the overall rate on both monomer and catalyst can vary from one to two, depending on the method by which the polymerization is carried out. 

An important and significant amount of work has also been done on the asymmetric polymerization of epoxides. Much of this work was carried out with catalysts derived from diethylzinc and diethylmagnesium. The asymmetry was introduced by using optically active alcohols in the synthesis of the catalyst species. Alternately, optically active monomers were polymerized using optically inactive catalysts. A detailed discussion of these studies is beyond the scope of this chapter and the reader is referred to reviews of the subject [9, 14]. 

As in the case of the zinc catalysts, active catalysts are formed by reaction of alkyl aluminium compounds with water. It is generally felt that since aluminium compounds are usually fairly strong Lewis acids, the catalysts also are somewhat more acidic in nature. Thus a coordinate cationic mechanism is generally favoured for these polymerizations. In contrast, a more anionic coordinate mechanism is usually suggested for the zinc catalysts. In fact, as will be seen in the discussion of the higher cyclic ethers, some of these catalysts are distinctly able to initiate true cationic polymerizations. However, the catalysts under discussion here as applied to epoxides are clearly considered to be coordinate. 

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Coordination polymerization IS described in more detail in Sections 7 15 and 14 15... 

In their polymerization, many individual alkene molecules combine to give a high molecular weight product Among the methods for alkene polymerization cationic polymerization coordination polymerization and free radical polymerization are the most important An example of cationic polymerization is... 

Coordination polymerization of isoprene using Ziegler-Natta catalyst systems (Section 6 21) gives a material similar in properties to natural rubber as does polymerization of 1 3 butadiene Poly(1 3 buta diene) is produced in about two thirds the quantity of SBR each year It too finds its principal use in tires... 

Before coordination polymerization was discovered by Ziegler and applied to... 

Section 14 15 Coordination polymerization of ethylene and propene has the biggest eco nomic impact of any organic chemical process Ziegler-Natta polymer ization IS carried out using catalysts derived from transition metals such as titanium and zirconium tt Bonded and ct bonded organometallic com pounds are intermediates m coordination polymerization... 

At present it is not possible to determine which of these mechanisms or their variations most accurately represents the behavior of Ziegler-Natta catalysts. In view of the number of variables in these catalyzed polymerizations, both mechanisms may be valid, each for different specific systems. In the following example the termination step of coordination polymerizations is considered. 

Protonic initiation is also the end result of a large number of other initiating systems. Strong acids are generated in situ by a variety of different chemistries (6). These include initiation by carbenium ions, eg, trityl or diazonium salts (151) by an electric current in the presence of a quartenary ammonium salt (152) by halonium, triaryl sulfonium, and triaryl selenonium salts with uv irradiation (153—155) by mercuric perchlorate, nitrosyl hexafluorophosphate, or nitryl hexafluorophosphate (156) and by interaction of free radicals with certain metal salts (157). Reports of "new" initiating systems are often the result of such secondary reactions. Other reports suggest standard polymerization processes with perhaps novel anions. These latter include (Tf)4Al (158) heteropoly acids, eg, tungstophosphate anion (159,160) transition-metal-based systems, eg, Pt (161) or rare earths (162) and numerous systems based on tri flic acid (158,163—166). Coordination polymerization of THF may be in a different class (167). 

In Section 6.21 we listed three main methods for polymerizing alkenes cationic, free-radical, and coordination polymerization. In Section 7.15 we extended our knowledge of polymers to their stereochemical aspects by noting that although free-radical polymerization of propene gives atactic polypropylene, coordination polymerization produces a stereoregulai polymer with superior physical properties. Because the catalysts responsible for coordination polymerization ar e organometallic compounds, we aie now in a position to examine coordination polymerization in more detail, especially with respect to how the catalyst works. 

Before coordination polymerization was discovered by Ziegler and applied to propene by Natta, there was no polypropylene industry. Now, more than 10 ° pounds of it aie prepared each year in the United States. Ziegler and Natta shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in chemistry Ziegler for discovering novel catalytic systems for alkene polymerization and Natta for stereoregular- polymerization. 

The distinction between coordination polymerization and ionic polymerization is not sharp. Let us consider for example a C—X bond, X being a halogen or a metal. Winstein54 and Evans14 have demonstrated that in a compound containing this type of bond an equilibrium may be established in a suitable solvent between... 

C—X, Cf, X- and C+ fX (see Fig. 2), the solvation energy increasing the driving force of these dissociations. It is possible that a coordination catalyst is not active in the C—X state but only in one or other of the ionized states. Such behavior blurs the distinction between ionic and coordination polymerization. 

All of these examples explain why such a variety of phenomena are observed in ionic or coordination polymerization. What we need to understand is the cause which gives to a particular center this or other properties, e.g., why dissociation into isolated ions leads to one and not another change in the reactivity and the specificity, how changes in solvation shell change the behavior of the growing center. This whole field is still uncharted, and calls for a thorough academic research. 

In anionic polymerization, as in carbonium ion polymerization, termination does not involve bimolecular reaction between two growing chains. Neither can recombination of ions lead to termination, since a carbon-metal bond is highly polar, in the case of alkali metals frequently completely ionized, and in every case very reactive. The termination step leading to the formation of a terminal C=C double bond is not too probable. This reaction involves the formation of a metal hydride, and this does not contribute greatly to the driving force. Consequently, such a termination is observed at higher temperatures only and it is probably more common in coordination polymerization where the metals involved are less electropositive. 

Configurational energy for clathrates, 12 Configurations, superposition of, 258 Conformal solution theory, 137 Coordination polymerization, 148, 162, 170... 

At the present time the concept of catalytic (or ionic-coordination ) polymerization has been developed by investigating polymerization processes in the presence of transition metal compounds. The catalytic polymerization may be defined as a process in which the catalyst takes part in the formation of the transition complexes of elementary acts during the propagation reaction. 

From an industrial stand-point, a major virtue of radical polymerizations is that they can often be carried out under relatively undemanding conditions. In marked contrast to ionic or coordination polymerizations, they exhibit a tolerance of trace impurities, A consequence of this is that high molecular weight polymers can often be produced without removal of the stabilizers present in commercial monomers, in the presence of trace amounts of oxygen, or in solvents that have not been rigorously dried or purified, Indeed, radical polymerizations are remarkable amongst chain polymerization processes in that they can be conveniently-conducted in aqueous media. 

In anionic and coordination polymerizations, reaction conditions can be chosen to yield polymers of specific microstructurc. However, in radical polymerization while some sensitivity to reaction conditions has been reported, the product is typically a mixture of microstructures in which 1,4-addition is favored. Substitution at the 2-position (e.g. isoprene or chloroprene - Section 4.3.2.2) favors 1,4-addition and is attributed to the influence of steric factors. The reaction temperature does not affect the ratio of 1,2 1,4-addition but does influence the configuration of the double bond formed in 1,4-addition. Lower reaction temperatures favor tram-I,4-addition (Sections 4.3.2.1 and 4.3.2.2). 

The presence of long chain branches in low density polyethylene (LDPE) accounts for the difference in properties e.g. higher melt strength, greater toughness for the same average molecular weight) between LDPE and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE, made by coordination polymerization). 

Six-coordinate, polymeric complexes NCCHj- salen NCCHjCo Not givdn Coplanar to with- 1.99 Co—N, 1.89 Not given 2.09 30... 

Coordination polymerization is the most versatile method of preparing PCL and its copolymers, affording high molecular weights and conversions, and either block or random copolymers depending on the conditions. As with the preceding classes of initiators, the product... 

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