Teator Aaron J, Varner Travis P, Knutson Phil C, Sorensen Cole C, Leibfarth Frank A
Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States.
ACS Macro Lett. 2020 Nov 17;9(11):1638-1654. doi: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.0c00664. Epub 2020 Oct 28.
The thermomechanical properties exhibited by synthetic macromolecules can be directly linked to their tacticity, or the relative stereochemistry of repeat units. The development of stereoselective coordination-insertion polymerization, for example, led to the discovery of isotactic polypropylene, now one of the most widely produced commodity plastics in the world. Widespread interest in controlling polymer tacticity has led to a variety of stereoselective polymerization methodologies; however, this area of polymer science has lagged behind when compared to the ability to control molecular weight, dispersity, and composition. Despite decades of advancements, many stereoregular vinyl polymers remain unknown, particularly those comprised of polar functionality or derived from renewable resources. This Viewpoint provides an overview of recent developments in stereocontrolled polymerization, with an emphasis on propagation mechanism, and highlights successes, limitations, and future challenges for continued innovation.
合成大分子所展现出的热机械性能可直接与其立构规整性，即重复单元的相对立体化学结构相关联。例如，立体选择性配位插入聚合反应的发展促成了全同立构聚丙烯的发现，它如今是世界上产量最大的通用塑料之一。对控制聚合物立构规整性的广泛关注催生了多种立体选择性聚合方法；然而，与控制分子量、分散度和组成的能力相比，聚合物科学的这一领域仍较为滞后。尽管经过了数十年的发展，许多立构规整的乙烯基聚合物仍然未知，尤其是那些含有极性官能团或源自可再生资源的聚合物。本观点概述了立体控制聚合的最新进展，重点在于增长机理，并突出了成功之处、局限性以及持续创新面临的未来挑战。
