Halogen chain ends, transformation polymerization

The steric environment for iron complexes with tridentate pyridine-bis(imine) ligands is similar to that for the Ni diimine complexes, except that the two metal-bound halogen atoms, which are presumably transformed into a polymerization site upon activation, are located in the plane perpendicular to the Fe-N3 plane (9, Figure 6.2), while they are in the Ni-N2 plane of the square planar Ni complexesIn the iron complex-catalyzed polymerizations, the propylene monomer is inserted in a highly regioregular 2,1 -fashion and exclusively yields 1 -propenyl chain ends. The polypropylene that is produced is prevailingly isotactic (up to 67% mmmm at —20 C 69% mm at 0 °C) irrespective... 

Advantages of end-group transformation include the ability to incorporate functionality incompatible with the polymerization procedure, to prepare halogen-free materials for subsequent reactive processing, to allow characterization of the initial copolymer prior to further functionalization, and an ability to prepare telechelic polymers, block copolymers, and materials that can be immobilized to surfaces, by a full range of substitution and addition chemistry. The use of a difunctional initiator allowed for the first time in a radical process preparation of functional homo-telechelic polymers with almost any desired chain end functionality (Scheme 33). ... 

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