Cationic polymerization and copolymerization of vinylferrocene

Vinylferrocene was shown to undergo readily cationic polymerization by FRIEDEL-CRAFTS and other cationic catalysts. The polymers obtained possessed rather low molecular weights, the highest being 3500. In spite of the high reactivity of the ferrocene nucleus towards electrophilic substitution, no mode of propagation other than vinyl addition was detected when the infrared spectra of polymers prepared by cationic and free radical reactions were compared. The electronic spectra of polyvinylferrocene and its oxidized form were similar to those of ferrocene and ferricinium ion, respectively. In the cationie copolymerization with styrene, the latter was incorporated into the polymer only when the styrene content in the monomer feed exceeded 90%. The copolymerization with vinyl isobutyl ether (M₂) by BF₃OEt₂ in toluene at 0°C gave the reactivity ratios: r₁ = 0.1 ± 0.1, r₂ = 9.7 ± 1.0. The high cationic reactivity of vinylferrocene is consistent with the stability of the α-ferrocenylearbonium ion inferred from solvolysis and other reactions.