Photolytic Living Anionic Ring-Opening Polymerization (ROP) of Silicon-Bridged [1]Ferrocenophanes via an Iron-Cyclopentadienyl Bond Cleavage Mechanism.
A new living anionic ring-opening polymerization (ROP) method for sila[1]ferrocenophane 1 was developed using UV irradiation in the presence of Na[C5H5] as a promoter to afford controlled molecular weight polymers (Mn = 9.3 × 103 to 7.0 × 104, PDI = 1.04−1.21). A ring-opened ferrocenylsilane with a dangling silyl-substituted cyclopentadienyl anion, which was obtained from a near-stoichiometric photoreaction of 1 with Li[C5H4Me], indicates an Fe−Cp bond cleavage mechanism for the photolytic ROP.