Amines as activators of the controlled polymer synthesis in the presence of ruthenacarboranes

Abstract

Using polymerization of a series of acrylic monomers of various structure in the presence of ruthenium complexes as an example, it was shown that introduction of amines into the polymerization system allows to overcome one of the significant drawbacks of the controlled polymer synthesis under the radical initiation conditions, connected with the low rate of the polymerization. The influence of the amine nature on the peculiarities of the controlled polymer synthesis in the presence of ruthenacarboranes has been studied and amine was found to act as a reducing agent converting ruthenium in a complex to the lowest oxidation state and regenerating the true polymerization catalyst.