Nickel- or Palladium-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling Polycondensation

Key words

magnesium - nickel catalysis - cross-coupling

Significance

The authors describe a cross-coupling polycondensation of Grignard reagents and various aromatic ethers or ammoniums salts to form π-conjugated polymers with high molecular weight through C–O or C–N bond cleavage. The reaction proceeds under mild conditions in the presence of commercially available Ni or Pd catalysts.

Comment

Interestingly, the optimized reaction conditions showed that the quality and purity of the organometallic compound critically influenced the yield and reactivity of this polycondensation. In the presence of mono-Grignard reagents, the chain-growth was terminated and the molecular weight was reduced.