Oligomerisation and stereoselective polymerisation of alkenes and alkynes using pyridyl-based Al(iii) catalysts
Dipanjana
Choudhury, 
†a
Alexandros
Terzopoulos,
a
Natalie S.
Potter,
a
Oren A.
Scherman,
*a
Jonathan M.
Goodman
*a
and
Dominic S.
Wright
*a
†a
Alexandros
Terzopoulos,
a
Natalie S.
Potter,
a
Oren A.
Scherman,
*a
Jonathan M.
Goodman
*a
and
Dominic S.
Wright
*a
Abstract
Dealkylation of the dimers [R2Al(2-py′)]2 (2-py′ = 6-substituted pyridyl, R = Me, iBu) with [Ph3C][B(C6F5)4] gives the putative cations [RAl(2-py′)2(µ-R)AlR]+ which can polymerise a range of alkenes with a high degree of stereoregularity (syndiotacticity in the case of polystyrene) and which cylotrimerise terminal alkynes to trisubstituted benzenes and a fulvene. This is the first report of stereoslective Al(III) polymerisation and of the cyclotrimerisation of alkynes by static catalysis using a main group metal.
- This article is part of the themed collection: 15th anniversary: Chemical Science community collection
Please wait while we load your content...
