Phenylacetylenes, substituted metathesis polymerization

Poly (acetylenes) [16], There are several catalysts available for polymerization of substituted acetylenes. Whereas Ziegler-Natta catalysts are quite effective for polymerization of acetylene itself and simple alkylacetylenes, they are not active towards other substituted acetylenes, e.g. phenylacetylenes. Olefin-metathesis catalysts (Masuda, 1985 Masuda and Higashimura, 1984, 1986) and Rh(i) catalysts (Furlani et al., 1986 Tabata, 1987) are often employed. In our experience, however, many persistent radicals and typical nitrogen-containing functional groups serve as good poisons for these catalysts. Therefore, radical centres have to be introduced after construction of the polymer skeletons. Fortunately, the polymers obtained with these catalysts are often soluble in one or other organic solvent. For example, methyl p-ethynylbenzoate can be polymerized to a brick-coloured amorph- See the Appendix on p. 245 of suffixes to structural formula numbers. 

Neutral catalysts or catalyst precursors based on fluorinated ligand systems have been applied in compressed CO2 to a broad range of transformations such as Zn- and Cr-catalyzed copolymerization of epoxides and CO2 [53, 54], Mo-catalyzed olefin metathesis [9], Pd-catalyzed coupling reactions [43, 55, 56] and Pd-catalyzed hydrogen peroxide synthesis [57]. Rhodium complexes with perfluoroalkyl-substituted P ligands proved successful in hydroformylation of terminal alkenes [28, 42, 44, 58], enantioselective hydroformylation [18, 59, 60], hydrogenation [61], hydroboration [62], and polymerization of phenylacetylene... 

Substituted phenylacetylenes that have been polymerized by metathesis catalysts also include those with the following substituents 2- and 4-methyl- (Yamaguchi 1991 Mizumoto 1995 Vijayaraj 1995), various 2-alkyls (Abe 1989, 1994), 2,5-di-... 

On the other hand, metathesis catalysts based on group V and VI metals effectively polymerize mono- and disubstituted alkynes to the corresponding substituted PAs. These catalysts are typically the metal chlorides, used with or without main-group organometallic cocatafysts, or metal carbonyls activated with light (Fig. 7) [110]. The latter e of catalyst is known for Mo and W only. Water can even be used as a cocatalyst with these catalysts for some monomers. For example, WQ5 I/2H2O polymerizes phenylacetylene to a soluble, powdery poly(phenylacetylene) with M = 15,000 g/mol and PDI = 2.06 [113]. 

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