Ring-opening Metathesis Polymerization of Norbornene in the Presence of Heteroatom-substituted Vinylic Compounds: Highly Selective Synthesis of End-functionalized Poly(norbornene)s

Heteroatom-substituted vinylic compounds including vinyl ether, acetate, sulfide, and pyrrolidinone have been found to serve as efficient chain-transfer agents for ring-opening metathesis polymerization of norbornene in the presence of vinylideneruthenium complexes as the catalyst precursors, leading to selective formation of poly(norbornene)s with endfunctionalities.