ABSTRACT
This chapter describes various types of chain-growth polymerization for the synthesis of well-defined p-conjugated polymers. It focuses on catalyst transfer Kumada-Tamao coupling polymerization: the mechanism, initiators, ligands of catalysts, and monomers are summarized. p-Conjugated polymers are important class of materials owing to their potential applications in thin-film transistors (TFTs), organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), and photovoltaic cells. The polymerization showed a chain-growth polymerization character, though polymerization afforded polythiophene with a broad molecular weight distribution owing to slow initiation reaction. The relationship of conversion versus time plots showed a linear increase initially and then leveledoff with time, implying that polymerization proceeded in a chain-growth manner during the initial period but amount of chain termination was increased with time. The chapter describes chain-growth polymerization from catalyst transfer Kumada-Tamao coupling polymerization to the recent progress involving a mechanism not via metal catalyst transfer.
