Incorporation of Vinyl Chloride in Insertion Polymerization

Abstract

A palladium-catalyzed insertion copolymerization of vinyl chloride (VC) and ethylene gave chlorinated polyethylene with CH3CHCl(CH2)n units (see scheme; C blue, O red, Pd orange, S yellow). The CH3CHCl end groups form by 2,1-insertion of VC into palladium hydride complexes, as revealed by detailed labeling studies. This first example of VC incorporation (up to 0.4 mol %) clearly shows that insertion (co)polymerization of VC is in principle feasible.