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1. Radical–radical coupling effects in the direct-growth grafting-through synthesis of bottlebrush polymers using RAFT and ROMP

   https://doi.org/10.1039/d2py00794k  

   Alaboalirat, Mohammed; Vu, Clark; Matson, John B. (October 2022, Polymer Chemistry)

   The direct-growth technique was used to synthesize several macromonomers (MMs) employing reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization by growing directly from a norbornene-functionalized chain transfer agent (CTA). We aimed to investigate the formation of bisnorbornenyl species resulting from radical termination by combination ( i.e. , coupling) during RAFT polymerization at different monomer conversion values in four types of monomers: styrene, tert -butyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate and N -acryloyl morpholine. Ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of these MMs using Grubbs' 3rd generation catalyst (G3) at an MM : G3 ratio of 100 : 1 resulted in the formation of bottlebrush polymers. Analysis by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) revealed high molar mass shoulders of varying intensities attributed to the incorporation of these bisnorbornenyl species to generate dimeric or higher-order bottlebrush polymer oligomers. The monomer type in the RAFT step heavily influenced the amount of these bottlebrush polymer dimers and oligomers, as did the monomer conversion value in the RAFT step: We found that the ROMP of polystyrene MMs with a target backbone degree of polymerization of 100 produced detectable coupling at ≥20% monomer conversion in the RAFT step, while it took ≥80% monomer conversion to observe coupling in the poly( tert -butyl acrylate) MMs. We did not detect coupling in the poly(methyl methacrylate) MMs, but broadening of the SEC peaks and an increase in dispersity occurred, suggesting the presence of metathesis-active alkene-containing chain ends created by disproportionation. Finally, poly( N -acryloyl morpholine) MMs, even when reaching 90% monomer conversion in the RAFT step, showed no detectable coupling in the bottlebrush polymers. These results highlight the importance of monomer choice and RAFT polymerization conditions in making MMs for ROMP grafting-through to make well-defined bottlebrush polymers. 

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2. Thiol-triggered deconstruction of bifunctional silyl ether terpolymers via an S _N Ar-triggered cascade

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D3SC02868B  

   Brown, Christopher M.; Husted, Keith E.; Wang, Yuyan; Kilgallon, Landon J.; Shieh, Peyton; Zafar, Hadiqa; Lundberg, David J.; Johnson, Jeremiah A. (August 2023, Chemical Science)

   While Si-containing polymers can often be deconstructed using chemical triggers such as fluoride, acids, and bases, they are resistant to cleavage by mild reagents such as biological nucleophiles, thus limiting their end-of-life options and potential environmental degradability. Here, using ring-opening metathesis polymerization, we synthesize terpolymers of (1) a “functional” monomer ( e.g. , a polyethylene glycol macromonomer or dicyclopentadiene); (2) a monomer containing an electrophilic pentafluorophenyl (PFP) substituent; and (3) a cleavable monomer based on a bifunctional silyl ether . Exposing these polymers to thiols under basic conditions triggers a cascade of nucleophilic aromatic substitution (S N Ar) at the PFP groups, which liberates fluoride ions, followed by cleavage of the backbone Si–O bonds, inducing polymer backbone deconstruction. This method is shown to be effective for deconstruction of polyethylene glycol (PEG) based graft terpolymers in organic or aqueous conditions as well as polydicyclopentadiene (pDCPD) thermosets, significantly expanding upon the versatility of bifunctional silyl ether based functional polymers. 

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3. Polyheptenamer: A chemically recyclable polyolefin enabled by the low strain of seven‐membered cycloheptene

   https://doi.org/10.1002/pol.20240196  

   Ibrahim, Tarek; Martindale, Jordan; Ritacco, Angelo; Rodriguez, Mia; Sun, Hao (April 2024, Journal of Polymer Science)

   Abstract Low‐strain cyclic olefin monomers, including five‐membered, six‐membered, eight‐membered, and macrocyclic rings, have been recently exploited for the synthesis of depolymerizable polyolefins via ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). Such polyolefins can undergo ring‐closing metathesis depolymerization (RCMD) to regenerate their original monomers. Nevertheless, the depolymerization behavior of polyolefins prepared by ROMP of seven‐membered cyclic olefins, an important class of low‐strain rings, still remains unexplored. In this study, we demonstrate the chemical recycling of polyheptenamers to cycloheptene under standard RCMD conditions. Highly efficient depolymerization of polyheptenamer was enabled by Grubbs' second‐generation catalyst in toluene. It was observed that the monomer yields increased when the depolymerization temperature increased and the starting polymer concentration was reduced. A near‐quantitative monomer regeneration (>96%) was achieved within 1 h under dilute conditions (20 mM of olefins) at 60°C. Moreover, polyheptenamer exhibited a decomposition temperature above 430°C, highlighting its potential as a new class of thermally stable and chemically recyclable polymer materials. 

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4. Ring Opening Metathesis Polymerization of a New Monomer Derived from a Nitroso Diels–Alder Reaction

   https://doi.org/10.1002/macp.202100098  

   Subnaik, Selesha; Sheridan, Katya; Hobbs, Christopher E. (May 2021, Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics)

   Abstract A nitroso Diels–Alder (NDA) reaction between cyclopentadiene and an in situ generated nitroso compound leads to a new heterocyclic monomer for ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) reactions. This monomer could be polymerized in the presence of Grubbs‐third generation initiator with good control overM_nand decentÐvalues. The resulting isoxazolidine‐containing material could undergo further hydrogenation, deprotection, and modification with Dansyl chloride as well as ring opening to provide an amino‐and hydroxyl‐decorated “polyolefin.” 

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5. Exploring the Formation of Copper–Ruthenium Bimetallic Complexes in Olefin Metathesis

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.organomet.3c00338  

   Almuzaini, Hanan N; Slebodnick, Carla; Schulz, Michael D (December 2023, Organometallics)

   Copper(I) halides are often added to olefin metathesis reactions to inhibit catalyst degradation, control product isomerization, enhance catalyst activation, or facilitate catalyst dimerization. In each of these examples, the copper salt is presumed to operate as an independent species, separate from the ruthenium center. We have discovered, however, that certain copper salts can form complexes with the ruthenium catalyst itself, forming hetero-bimetallic copper-ruthenium olefin metathesis catalysts. We confirmed the formation of two complexes through single-crystal X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy. The crystal structure revealed the presence of a four-member ring containing ruthenium, carbon, copper, and chlorine or bromine. The hetero-bimetallic catalyst displayed higher latency and lower activity in the ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of norbornene compared to analogous monometallic catalysts. For example, norbornene polymerization catalyzed by the monometallic complex reached 80 % conversion after 4 h, but only 12% conversion when catalyzed by the hetero-bimetallic copper-ruthenium complex under the same conditions. Conversion increased to 63 % when the temperature increased to 50 °C for 1 h, indicating that the bimetallic complex retains activity but requires a higher temperature to activate. The formation of these copper-ruthenium bimetallic complexes suggests the possibility of multi-metallic olefin metathesis catalysts, potentially with different activity and properties than their traditional monometallic counterparts. 

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