An "Endless" Route to Cyclic Polymers
Abstract
A new synthetic route to cyclic polymers has been developed in which the ends of growing polymer chains remain attached to a metal complex throughout the entire polymerization process. The approach eliminates the need for linear polymeric precursors and high dilution, drawbacks of traditional macrocyclization strategies, and it effectively removes the barrier to producing large quantities of pure cyclic material. Ultimately, the strategy offers facile access to a unique macromolecular scaffold that may be used to meet the increasing demand of new applications for commercial polymers. As a demonstration of its potential utility, cyclic polyethylenes were prepared and found to exhibit a variety of physical properties that were distinguishable from their linear analogs.
Additional Information
© 2002 American Association for the Advancement of Science. Received 24 June 2002; accepted 8 August 2002. Financial support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) is gratefully acknowledged. We thank W. H. Stockmayer (Dartmouth College) for valuable discussions. We are indebted to M. Chen and S. Podzimek (Wyatt Technology Corporation, Santa Barbara, CA) for assistance with Wyatt's light-scattering equipment. C.B. is grateful to the NSF and the American Chemical Society Division of Organic Chemistry for predoctoral fellowships.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 51852
- DOI
- 10.1126/science.1075401
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20141117-131735574
- NSF Predoctoral Fellowship
- American Chemical Society Division of Organic Chemistry
- Created
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2014-11-17Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field