Synthesis of polyethylene containing allene groups: a simple and efficient route to functional polyethylene

Allene groups are first employed as the reactive moiety in the simple and efficient synthesis of well-defined functional polyethylene. By copolymerization of ethylene with allene group substituted norbornene, the allene group is successfully introduced into the polyethylene with a high content. The retained allene groups are demonstrated to be highly reactive in following photoinduced functionalized reactions and can be efficiently converted into the functional groups without the multi-step, time consuming processes that have generally been required in previous reports, providing the side group-functionalized polyethylene with a wide range of functional group content.