Synfacts 2010(12): 1370-1370  
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1258935
Synthesis of Materials and Unnatural Products
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart ˙ New York

Alkyne ROMP: ‘It’s Alive!!!’

Contributor(s): Timothy M. Swager, Olesya Haze
F. R. Fischer*, C. Nuckolls*
Columbia University New York, USA
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
22 November 2010 (online)

Significance

The first living ring-opening alkyne metathesis polymerization is reported. The authors screened several catalysts and ligands and found that using a molybdenum propylidyne precursor [(N(t-Bu)Ar)3Mo≡CCH2CH3] with three equivalents of 2-nitrophenol ligand gave a polymer with low polydispersity (PDI = 1.1). This catalyst system is able to differentiate between the strained cyclic alkynes of the monomer and the ­internal alkynes in the polymer, and the PDI does not erode over time.