Polynorbornenes Containing Ferrocene Derivatives and Alkyne-bis(tricarbonylcobalt)

Coordination of dicobalt hexacarbonyl to the alkyne moiety of norbornene complexes containing either ferrocene or η(6) -chlorobenzene-η(5) -cyclopentadienyliron hexafluorophosphate, gave two unique trimetallic complexes available for ROMP. Polymerization of each monomer using Grubbs second generation catalyst gave organoiron/organocobalt polynorbornenes with weight average molecular weights between 55 300 and 69 000 with PDIs between 1.2 and 1.9. Cyclic voltammetric studies of the monomers and polymers at -40 °C showed a reversible reduction for cationic complexes containing η(6) -benzene-η(5) -cyclopentadienyliron and for the dicobalt hexacarbonyl moieties while, a reversible oxidation for the ferrocene containing complex was observed. Thermal analysis showed that the cobalt carbonyl moiety of the polymers degraded near 130 °C; however, the polymeric backbone was stable up to 350 °C. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and SEM-EDS indicated that the polymers possessed a fine globular morphology and that the distribution of iron and cobalt atoms was homogenous on the macro-scale.