Lithium alkylnickelate and alkylpalladate bimetallic “ate” complexes as initiators for anionic polymerization of methyl methacrylate

Anionic-coordinative polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was carried out in the presence of new bimetallic initiators based on lithium alkylnickelates and alkylpalladates in tetrahydrofuran, at ?78°C. Well-defined poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA, with molecular weights increasing linearly with conversion and relatively narrow polydispersities (M?_w/M?_n = 1,26 to 1,4) were prepared by initiation with some of the “ate” complexes. In the presence of lithium “ate” Ni-based complexes, PMMA with enhanced syndiotacticity (rr) = 73 to 75%] was formed.