Catalytic polymerization of ethylene with polar monomers

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Polymers are ubiquitous, and are expected to be able to replace traditional structural materials for many applications. For this purpose, it is necessary to generate new polymeric materials based on the narrow set of building blocks (monomers) which are easily accessible to the chemist. In this proposal, we intend to combine the simplest building blocks (ethylene and simple polar monomers) in an innovative manner, so as to generate entirely novel polymeric materials. Thus, we propose to explore the copolymerization of ethylene with polar monomers catalyzed by late transition metal complexes. A novel family of polymers will be prepared by the catalytic copolymerization of ethylene with acrylic esters, acrylic acid and acrylamides. The cyclopolymerization of allyl acrylate will be scrutinized, and amphiphilic copolymers ethylene and acrylamide will be prepared with the goal to generate self-assembled nanostructures in water. We will also synthesize a family of polymerization catalysts based on imino-sulfonates and bimetallic phosphine-sulfonates containing aryl chromium tricarbonyls.