Cobalt-catalysed oligomerisation of methyl methacrylate; reactivation of oligomers by hydrocobaltation

Abstract

Irradiation of methyl methacrylate (MMA) in the presence of acyl- and alkyl-cobalt ‘salophen’ reagents leads to good yields of oligomers [(11)–(13)] by way of a novel catalytic ‘hydrocobaltation–dehydrocobaltation’ sequence; hydrocobaltation of the dimer (11)[to (14)] followed by conversion of the latter into (15) in the presence of styrene demonstrates the possibilities for ‘reactivation’ of oligomers of MMA for further chemical studies.