Issue 28, 2017

C1 polymerization: a unique tool towards polyethylene-based complex macromolecular architectures

Abstract

The recent developments in organoborane initiated C1 polymerization (chain grows by one atom at a time) of ylides open unique horizons towards well-defined/perfectly linear polymethylenes (equivalent to polyethylenes, PE) and PE-based complex macromolecular architectures. The general mechanism of C1 polymerization (polyhomologation) involves the formation of a Lewis complex between methylide (a monomer) and borane (an initiator), followed by migration/insertion of methylene into the initiator and after oxidation/hydrolysis to afford OH-terminated polyethylenes. This review summarizes efforts towards conventional and newly discovered borane-initiators and ylides (monomers), as well as a combination of polyhomologation with other polymerization methods. Initial efforts dealing with C3 polymerization and the synthesis of the first C1/C3 copolymers are also given. Finally, some thoughts for the future of these polymerizations are presented.

Graphical abstract: C1 polymerization: a unique tool towards polyethylene-based complex macromolecular architectures

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
06 Apr 2017
Accepted
08 May 2017
First published
09 May 2017

Polym. Chem., 2017,8, 4062-4073

C1 polymerization: a unique tool towards polyethylene-based complex macromolecular architectures

D. Wang, Z. Zhang and N. Hadjichristidis, Polym. Chem., 2017, 8, 4062 DOI: 10.1039/C7PY00581D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements