Aaron’s Paper On Stereoselective Cationic Polymerization Is In Press

Our newly-developed methodology for the stereoselective polymerization of vinyl ethers has appeared online! The manuscript, entitled Catalyst-Controlled Stereoselective Cationic Polymerization of Vinyl Ethers, has been published in Science. This work has been featured in a Science perspective and highlighted by Nature.

This manuscript details our efforts towards developing a general, stereoselective cationic polymerization. We designed chiral counterions that 1) systematically bias the reactivity and chain-end stereochemical environment during cationic polymerization and 2) override conventional chain-end stereochemical bias to achieve a catalyst-controlled stereoselective polymerization. The method is general to vinyl ether substrates, resulting in poly(vinyl ether)s with unprecedented levels of isotacticity (up to 93% meso diads). These materials are high-melting thermoplastics that exhibit tensile properties commensurate with commercial polyolefins but with significantly enhanced adhesion to polar substrates, indicating their promise for next-generation engineering applications.