Bimetallic Cu(I)/Rh(II) Relay Catalysis for Multicomponent Polymerization through Carbene Intermediates

A highly efficient and multicomponent step-growth polymerization via carbene intermediates is established by bimetallic relay catalytic systems. This strategy, which provides a facile synthetic pathway to novel luminescent polysulfonamides, could overcome the limitation on the choice of carbene monomers and their difficulty in achieving high-molecular-weight polymers. The polymerizations occur through a tandem Cu(I)-catalyzed click reaction and an Rh(II)-catalyzed carbene 1,3-insertion reaction. The high reactivity of Rh(II)-bonded imino carbene intermediates allows a wide range of reactivity with various carboxylic acids, alcohols, and phenols. These results point to an untapped pathway for the use of metal carbene intermediates to construct new macromolecules.

Automated summary

A highly efficient and multicomponent step-growth polymerization via carbene intermediates is established by bimetallic relay catalytic systems. This method overcomes the limitation on the choice of carbene monomers and achieves high-molecular-weight polymers. The results suggest an untapped pathway for the use of metal carbene intermediates to construct new macromolecules.