Controlled and Efficient Polymerization of Conjugated Polar Alkenes by Lewis Pairs Based on Sterically Hindered Aryloxide-Substituted Alkylaluminum
State Key Laboratory of Organometallic Chemistry, Center for Excellence in Molecular Synthesis, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling Road, Shanghai 200032, China
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Molecules 2018, 23(2), 442; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules23020442
Received: 30 January 2018 / Revised: 12 February 2018 / Accepted: 14 February 2018 / Published: 17 February 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lewis Pair Polymerization for New Reactivity and Structure in Polymer Synthesis)
Reported herein is the development of an effective strategy for controlled and efficient Lewis pair polymerization of conjugated polar alkenes, including methyl methacrylate (MMA), n-butyl methacrylate (nBuMA), and γ-methyl-α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone (γMMBL), by the utilization of sterically encumbered Al(BHT)2Me (BHT: 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol) as a Lewis acid that shuts down intramolecular backbiting termination. In combination with a selected N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) as a Lewis base, the polymerization of MMA exhibited activity up to 3000 h−1 TOF and an acceptable initiation efficiency of 60.6%, producing polymers with high molecular weight (Mn up to 130 kg/mol) and extremely narrow dispersity (Đ = 1.06~1.13). This controlled polymerization with a living characteristic has been evidenced by chain-extension experiments and chain-end analysis, and enabled the synthesis of well-defined diblock copolymers.
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Keywords:
frustrated Lewis pair; Lewis pair; polymerization; carbenes; acrylics
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MDPI and ACS Style
Wang, X.; Zhang, Y.; Hong, M. Controlled and Efficient Polymerization of Conjugated Polar Alkenes by Lewis Pairs Based on Sterically Hindered Aryloxide-Substituted Alkylaluminum. Molecules 2018, 23, 442.
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