Jaouad El Harfia, Andrew F. Parsonsa and Derek Irvineb a Department of Chemistry, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK b Uniqema, Wilton Centre, Wilton, Redcar. TS10 4RF. UK.

The project is centred on the development of novel radical reactions, particularly “controlled” alkene polymerizations, dimanganese decacarbonyl Mn₂(CO)₁₀ and related complexes with nitrogen- or phosphorus- ligands on the metal. It will be of interest to see how these substituents influence the radical reactivity (i.e. rates of radical generation, addition to multiple bonds). An important goal of the project is to develop a controlled method of polymerisation of alkenes (including methyl methacrylate and styrene) using Mn₂(CO)₁₀ in the presence of an allylic halide in toluene), which follows on from the preliminary studies at York. The manganese-centred radicals can abstract halogen atoms from alkyl halides to give carbon-centred radicals, which can initiate alkene polymerisation (see scheme below). This method will then be applied to supporting a range of important building blocks (e.g. amino acids, carbohydrates, steroids, nucleosides) onto solid-supports with defined architecture (i.e. predictable molecular weight average/polydispersity).

© Department of Chemistry, University of York.