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Updated: Sep 21, 2025

Depolymerizable Olefinic Polymers Based on Fused-Ring Cyclooctene Monomers
Published on: December 16, 2022
Frontal Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization of Exo-Dicyclopentadiene for Low Catalyst Loadings
Ian D Robertson1, Emmy L Pruitt2, Jeffrey S Moore2
1Department of Chemistry and the ‡Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.
Abstract:
Polydicyclopentadiene (PDCPD) is a polymer of growing importance in industrial applications. Frontal ring-opening metathesis polymerization (FROMP) offers a means to rapidly cure PDCPD with minimal input energy owing to a propagating reaction wave sustained by the exothermic polymerization. Previous examples of FROMP have required the use of relatively high concentrations of costly ruthenium catalyst, negating many of the benefits of FROMP synthesis. In this contribution, we demonstrate that by using the highly reactive exo-dicyclopentadiene isomer for FROMP the concentration of catalyst is reduced over 3-fold, while maintaining a high frontal velocity. Reducing the amount of ruthenium required for FROMP makes this technique attractive for the production of large PDCPD structural components.
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