Scientists in the US have reported a new type of conducting polymer, generated by a ROMP (ring opening metathesis polymerisation) reaction. The new polymers could have potentially useful properties, they say.
They reacted the complex (η5-C5H5)Ir(η4-C6H6) with Grubbs’ catalyst to give a polyacetylene consisting of cyclopentadienyliridium bound s-cis butadiene moieties separated by C=C linkages, a previously unavailable polyacetylene type.
Link to journal article
Ring Opening Metathesis Polymerization of an η4-Benzene Complex: A Direct Synthesis of a Polyacetylene with a Regular Pattern of Π Bound Metal Fragments
P D Zeits, T Fiedler and J A Gladysz
Chem. Commun., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2cc32150e
