Vinylic copolymerization of norbornene and higher 1-alkene with three-dimensional geometry binickel catalyst

Abstract

Compared with monometallic complex, the three-dimensional geometry α-diimine binickel complex exhibited higher activities (5.5 × 105–2.7 × 107 gpolymer/molNi · h) in the homopolymerization of norbornene and copolymerization of norbornene with 1-hexene or 1-decene in the presence of B(C6F5)3. The 1-hexene or 1-decene content in the copolymers could be controlled up to 9.2–25.3 % or 8.8–17.8 % by varying the comonomer feed ratios 1-hexene or 1-decene from 10 to 50 %. It was observed that the yield depended on the kind of 1-alkene and improved with increasing the length of 1-alkene. The obtained poly(NB-co-1-hexene)s and poly(NB-co-1-decene)s exhibited high thermal stability and high glass transition temperature, together with high molecular weight. In addition, copolymers showed good solubility in common organic solvents and could be processed into films by solution casting method, which showed good transparency in the visible region.