Polynorbornenes Containing Ferrocene Derivatives and Alkyne-bis(tricarbonylcobalt)

Coordination of dicobalt hexacarbonyl to the alkyne moiety of norbornene complexes containing either ferrocene or eta(6)-chlorobenzene-eta(5)-cyclopentadienyliron hexafluorophosphate, gave two unique trimetallic complexes available for ROMP. Polymerization of each monomer using Grubbs second generation catalyst gave organoiron/organocobalt polynorbornenes with weight average molecular weights between 55 300 and 69 000 with PDIs between 1.2 and 1.9. Cyclic voltammetric studies of the monomers and polymers at -40 degrees C showed a reversible reduction for cationic complexes containing eta(6)-benzene-eta(5)-cyclopentadienyliron and for the dicobalt hexacarbonyl moieties while, a reversible oxidation for the ferrocene containing complex was observed. Thermal analysis showed that the cobalt carbonyl moiety of the polymers degraded near 130 degrees C; however, the polymeric backbone was stable up to 350 degrees C. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and SEM-EDS indicated that the polymers possessed a fine globular morphology and that the distribution of iron and cobalt atoms was homogenous on the macro-scale.