Preparation of end-?-allylnickel macroinitiator from poly(ethylene glycol) allenyl methyl ether and its application to the living coordination polymerization of isonitriles

Abstract

An end-π-allylnickel macroinitiator (3) was prepared by the reaction of poly(ethylene glycol) allenyl methyl ether with an excess amount (5 equiv) of [(π-allyl)NiOCOCF3]2 (1) in the presence of PPh3 ([PPh3]/[1] = 1). The resulting macroinitiator was used as an initiator for the polymerization of 1-phenylethyl isonitrile (4a) to give a block copolymer [poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(4a)]. The molecular weight and composition of the block copolymers were controlled by the molecular weight of 3 and the ratio of 4a to 3. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 495–499, 2001