Metal Catalyst-Free Synthesis of Poly(Vinyl Ether)s with Desirable Properties

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Abstract

Polymer tacticity has a profound influence on macroscopic material properties, including the thermal, mechanical, and optical behavior of a material. Despite advancements in coordination-insertion polymerization methods used for the synthesis of stereoregular poly(alpha-olefin)s, polar isotactic polymers have remained a challenging synthetic target. This research contributes to our lab's approach to synthesize a unique class of polar, semi-crystalline thermoplastics through stereoselective cationic polymerization. Through exploiting the chirality of bio-derived vinyl ether monomers, we strive to achieve isotactic polymerization through chain-end control using simple, inexpensive achiral initiators.

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