Telechelic alkadiene polymers with crosslinkable end groups and methods for making the same

摘要

The present invention relates to telechelic polymers having crosslinkable end groups of the formula and methods for preparing the same wherein n is an integer; is an alkadienyl group; Y is an alkyl group; and Z is crosslinkable end group. In general, the inventive synthesis involves reacting a functionalized chain transfer agent having crosslinkable ends with a cycloalkene in the presence of a ruthenium or osmium catalyst of the formula wherein: M is ruthenium or osmium; X and X¹ are independently any anionic ligand; L and L¹ are any neutral electron donor ligand; R and R¹ are each hydrogen or a substituted or unsubstituted substituent wherein the substituent is selected from the group consisting of C₁-C₂₀ alkyl, C₂-C₂₀ alkenyl, C₂-C₂₀ alkynyl, aryl, C₁-C₂₀ carboxylate, C₁-C₂₀ alkoxy, C₁-C₂₀ alkenyloxy, C₂-C₂₀ alkynyloxy, aryloxy, C₂-C₂₀ alkoxycarbonyl, C₁-C₂₀ alkylthio, C₁-C₂₀ alkylsulfonyl and C₁-C₂₀ alkylsulfinyl. In another aspect of the invention, methods for controlling the molecular weight of the resulting telechelic polymer are also presented.