Session: General Topics: New Synthesis & Characterization of Polymers:

Ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) has become one of the most efficient methods to construct olefinic polymers carrying an impressive range of functionalities, but the obtained materials are usually persistent in the environment due to all-carbon backbone. In this poster, the ability of Fischer-type carbenes to participate in cascade alternating metathesis polymerization is leveraged to generate poly(enol ether)s. These ruthenium complexes have rarely been demonstrated as active species in metathesis reactions and are frequently regarded as inert species in ring-opening metathesis polymerization. When enyne monomers are combined with low-strain cyclic vinyl ethers, a chain-growth copolymerization occurs that exhibits high degrees of alternation (>90% alternating diads) and produces degradable polymers decorated by hydrolytically labile enol ether backbones with low dispersities and targetable molecular weights. Also, this methodology is amenable to the synthesis of alternating diblock polymers that can be degraded into small-molecule fragments under aqueous acidic conditions. This work furthers the potential of Fischer-type ruthenium alkylidenes in polymerization strategies and presents new avenues for the generation of functional metathesis materials.

Will Gutekunst

Georgia Tech

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