Catalysts for the Controlled Polymerization of Conjugated Dienes

• Published in: Catalysts Vol. 8; no. 10; p. 442
• Main Author: Visseaux, Marc
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.10.2018; MDPI
• Subjects: Aluminum; Block copolymers; Catalysis; Catalysts; Chain transfer; Chemical reactions; Chemical Sciences; Conjugated diene polymerization; Copolymerization; Dienes; Ligands; Metals; Molecular structure; Monomers; Polymerization; Polymers; Structural analysis; Studies; Styrenes; Substrates
• ISSN: 2073-4344; 2073-4344
• DOI: 10.3390/catal8100442

Nowadays, there is a better understanding of the polymerization mechanism and involves allyl-active species, thanks in particular to the support of more and more efficient calculations methods [9,10,11]. Since the beginning of the 2000s, there has also been a tendency for statistical copolymerization of 1,3-dienes with olefin or styrene comonomers to produce statistical, alternating, and block copolymers [12], while access to multiblock and stereoblock copolymers is currently made possible by the innovative approaches of coordinative chain transfer polymerization [13]. [...]the future will probably see the development of alternative catalysts made from non-toxic and abundant metals like iron, while an even greater interest can be expected for rare earth catalysts following the discovery of new geological resources of these elements [14]. Particular behavior was observed vs. polymerization, related in particular to the internal or external substitution of the substrate diene monomer, also depending on the molecular structure (exo-exo or exo-endo orientation of the allyl group and steric bulk of additional phosphine ligands) of the pre-catalyst. [...]our group contributed under the form of a mini-review, which focuses on the recent advances on the synthesis, structure, and characterization of allyl-based rare earth organometallic complexes, with emphasis on their ability to catalyze the polymerization of non-polar monomers such as conjugated dienes, styrene, and their related copolymerization [21].