The principal investigators recently produced the first high-molecular-weight polymers by metathesis polymerization of acyclic dienes with a tungsten-derived catalyst. It is now the goal of this research to broaden this new synthetic procedure to the preparation of a variety of novel materials with precisely defined architecture. Materials derived from nonconjugated, acyclic dienes will be prepared with chiral centers, electrical conductivity, high rigidity or high flexibility, or with polar groups such as esters, ethers, and heterocycles. An additional objective is to investigate the creation of better catalysts for acyclic diene metathesis polymerization. This research is jointly funded by the Divisions of Materials Research and of Chemistry, under the Materials Chemistry and Chemical Processing Initiative.//
