Highly active polymerization of methyl methacrylate catalyzed by Pd-based β-ketoiminato complexes/MAO systems

The substituted β-ketoiminato palladium(II) complexes, Pd[CH3C(O)CHC(NAr)CH3](Pph3)(Me) (1 Ar = α-napthyl, 2 Ar = fluorenyl), when was activated by methylaluminoxane (MAO), were used as highly active catalysts for methyl methacrylate (MMA) polymerization. The effects of temperature, co-catalyst to catalyst molar ratio and polymerization time on catalyst activities were reported. Structural analyses of the polymers by 1H NMR spectra indicated that polymerization yielded poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with moderate syndiotactic microstructures. The polymerization results showed that PMMAs obtained using these complexes possibly arose from a coordination-insertion mechanism rather than a radical mechanism.