Cyclic Analogs of Low-Density Polyethylene from Alkynes

Gina Pedro

University of Florida

Polyethylene (PE) is produced at a scale of 100 million tons annually. Its widespread applications, from grocery bags and food containers to toys and medical implants, make it especially commercially impactful. In 2002, the synthesis of cyclic polyethylene via ring-expansion metathesis polymerization (REMP) was reported, a mechanism by which the propagating chain remains tethered to the metal complex. This topological modification of PE revealed that unique, differentiable properties could be accessed from cyclic polymers, including smaller hydrodynamic volumes, increased glass transition temperatures, and lower intrinsic viscosities. In 2016, the Veige group produced cyclic polymers from alkynes via REMP using a tungsten-based catalyst featuring a tetraanionic pincer ligand. Herein this poster will present the most recent work by our group in synthesizing and characterizing low-density PE cyclic analogs utilizing this mechanism.