Synthesis and properties of alternating metallopolymers

Abstract

Metallopolymers, or organometallic polymers, have drawn considerable attention since they possess the combined properties and functions of polymers and metals. In recent years, sequence-controlled/sequence-defined polymers have become the research hotspot in polymer chemistry. However, studies on sequence-controlled metallopolymers remain largely unexplored. In this paper, metallocene-based (ferrocene and ruthenoccene) diacrylates and cyclooctenes are synthesized as monomers to prepare alternating metallopolymers via ring-opening-insertion-metathesis polymerization (ROIMP). The structures and properties of polymers are well-characterized by NMR spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), UV-vis spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). This work provides a new strategy to prepare alternating metallopolymers.

Heterobimetallic block copolymers with a combined main-chain/side-chain topology

“…[6][7][8][9][10] Precise structure control is crucial to tailor the properties of linear heterobimetallic polymers. As depicted in Scheme 1, based on the position of metal atoms in the polymer backbone, the two metal moieties can be distributed in an alternating [11][12][13] or block [14][15][16][17][18][19] manner along the polymer chain, and these metal units can be conjugated to the side chain 20,21 or main chain 22 of the polymer, which further enriches their structural diversities. 23 Side-chain metallopolymers are often amorphous and soluble in common solvents, 5,24 whereas main-chain metallopolymers can be crystalline with poor solubility.…”