Metal-catalyzed C-H activation for polymer synthesis and functionalization

Transition-metal-catalyzed C-H bond activation has attracted substantial interest in recent years as an efficient, step-economic, and environmentally benign pathway for the synthesis of functional polymers. The polymerization reaction may proceed through C-H/C-X cross-coupling, oxidative C-H/C-H coupling, and C-H addition to unsaturated C-C bonds. C-H activation may also serve as a chain transfer reaction for olefin polymerization and polymer post-functionalization. This review summarizes recent advances in this area. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.