Synthesis of functional polymers via borane monomers and metathesis catalysts

This paper summarizes the development of new functionalized hydrocarbon polymers prepared from borane-containing olefins and metathesis catalysts. Several unique polymer structures, such as alternating copolymers and telechelic polymers, have been synthesized, some of which are difficult to prepare by existing methods. Both ring-opening metathesis polymerization and metathesis degradation on borane-containing olefins have proved to be very useful for functionalization of hydrocarbon polymers. The advantages of monomers containing borane groups are: (a) the stability of metathesis catalysts to borane substituents; (b) the solubility of the borane monomer and polymer in the hydrocarbon solvents used for metathesis reactions; and (c) the versatility of borane groups, which can be transformed into a variety of functionalities, such as OH, NH₂ and I. Some physical properties of the resulting polymers are also discussed.