Allenylidene-ruthenium-arene precatalyst for ring opening metathesis polymerisation (ROMP)

The ruthenium allenylidene complex [RuCl(=C=C=CPh2)(PCy3)(P-cymene)][OTf] constitutes an excellent precatalyst for the ROMP at room temperature of norbornene (M-n = 198 X 10(3), PDI = 1.8) and cyclooctene (M-n = 143 x 10(3), PDI = 1.9). The activation of the precatalyst by initial heating (25 min, 60 degreesC) generates a catalytic species that operates at room temperature to produce in 10 min 90% of polyoctenamer (M-n = 151 x 10(3), PDI = 1.7). (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.