Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Tailored cationic palladium(II) compounds as catalysts for highly selective linear dimerization of styrene and linear polymerization of p-divinylbenzene

Journal Article · · Journal of the American Chemical Society; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/ja00182a044· OSTI ID:5543380
;  [1]
  1. Pennsylvania State Univ., Univ. Park (United States)

An important advantage in using transition-metal compounds as catalysts is the ability to tailor their activity and selectivity by a rational choice of ligands. The authors had earlier reported that the palladium(II) species (Pd(MeCN){sub 4})(BF{sub 4}){sub 2} (1) was an active catalyst for the polymerization of styrene (typical MW: 70,000) and the di- and trimerization of {alpha}-methylstyrene to the corresponding indan derivatives at room temperature. The usual cationic mechanism was invoked for these transformations. Herein, they report that the replacement of the weakly coordinating MeCN ligands in 1 by more strongly ligating and bulkier pyridine and phosphine derivatives results in the formation of highly selective catalysts for selective linear dimerization of styrene and linear polymerization of p-divinylbenzene. The new catalyst systems differ from most existing systems for the cationic oligomerization and polymerization of styrene derivatives in several important ways.

DOE Contract Number:
FG02-84ER13295
OSTI ID:
5543380
Journal Information:
Journal of the American Chemical Society; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of the American Chemical Society; (United States) Vol. 112:26; ISSN 0002-7863; ISSN JACSA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English