Polymerization of methylcyclopentadiene was carried out with F RIEDEL ‐C RAFTS catalysts. The monomer contained 1‐methyl and 2‐methyl isomers only. No isomerization of the monomer occurred during polymerization. All the polymers obtained were soluble in organic solvents such as toluene. The rate of polymerization and the intrinsic viscosity of the polymer decreased with increasing concentration of 1‐methylcyclopentadiene in the monomer feed. The structure of the polymer was determined by NMR spectroscopy and it was shown that most of the 1‐methylcyclopentadiene units were incorporated as the 3.4‐structure, 70 to 95% of the 2‐methylcyclopentadiene units as the 1.4‐structure and the residual part as the 3.4‐structure. The ratios of the 1.4‐ and 3.4‐structures of the 2‐methylcyclopentadiene units changed with polymerization conditions but not with monomer composition.
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Aso et al. (1967) studied this question.