Selective ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of cyclobutenes. Unsymmetrical ladderphane containing polycyclobutene and polynorbornene strands

• Yuan-Zhen Ke,
• Shou-Ling Huang,
• Guoqiao Lai and
• Tien-Yau Luh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 44–51, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.4

• contains both cyclobutene and norbornene moieties, the conditions using THF as the solvent at 0 °C offer a useful protocol for the selective ROMP of cyclobutene to give norbornene-appended polycyclobutene. Unsymmetrical ladderphane having polycyclobutene and polynorbornene as two strands is obtained by

• further ROMP of the norbornene appended polycyclobutene in the presence of Grubbs first generation catalyst in DCM at ambient temperature. Methanolysis of this unsymmetrical ladderphane gives polycyclobutene methyl ester and insoluble polynorbornene-amide-alcohol. The latter is converted into the

• strand is 8:1. Keywords: cyclobutene; hydrolysis; linker; metathesis; norbornene; ROMP; selectivity; unsymmetrical ladderphane; Introduction Ring-opening metathesis polymerizations (ROMP) of strained cycloalkenes offer a powerful arsenal for the synthesis of polymers having a variety of fascinating