Abstract
Over the past several years there has been growing interest in a new class of controlled living polymerizations jointly referred to as catalyst-transfer polycondensations (CTPs), in which monomers are coupled by a variety of metal-catalyzed metatheses, such as Grignard metathesis polymerization (GRIM). Interest in these processes is primarily driven by their applicability to the synthesis of conjugated polymers for organic electronics. In this article we use computational modeling of polymerization reactions to identify inherent factors which cause the widely observed deviation of chain length distributions in CTP products from the Poisson distribution expected for ideal living polymerizations. The primary source of these deviations is shown to be related to intermittent deactivation of metathesis pathways which transform the newly added monomer into a chain end capable of further propagation. Maximum departures from ideal behavior are observed when the rates of processes involved in metathesis are comparable with the rate of polymerization.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.