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Updated: May 13, 2026

Ethylene Polymerizations Using Parallel Pressure Reactors and a Kinetic Analysis of Chain Transfer Polymerization
Published on: November 27, 2015
Controlled catalyst transfer polycondensation and surface-initiated polymerization of a p-phenyleneethynylene-based
Songsu Kang1, Robert J Ono, Christopher W Bielawski
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, Texas 78712, United States.
Abstract:
Herein, we describe a catalyst transfer polycondensation that enabled access to well-defined poly(p-phenyleneethynylene) (PPE), a prominent conjugated polymer. Treatment of a stannylated 4-iodophenylacetylene derivative with PhPd(t-Bu3P)Br afforded the corresponding PPE in up to 94% yield. Under optimized conditions, the molecular weight of the polymer increased linearly with monomer consumption, and was controlled by adjusting the initial monomer-to-catalyst ratio. The chain-growth nature of the polymerization reaction was utilized to produce well-defined PPE-containing block copolymers, as well as to grow PPE brushes from silica nanoparticles via a surface-initiated polymerization process.
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