Star polyethylenes by coordinative polymerization

Abstract

With their distinct star architecture, star polymers show some desirable materials properties and have received extensive research interest. To date, the advancements in living anionic and controlled radical polymerization techniques have empowered the versatile synthesis of a variety of star polymers from several groups of monomers that are amenable to these polymerization techniques. Despite the fact that polyethylene is the largest produced commodity polymer worldwide, the synthesis of star polyethylenes as a unique polyethylene grade has somehow lagged due to the limited availability of powerful transition metal catalysts that can effectively facilitate ‘living’ ethylene polymerization for the construction of star architectures. Nevertheless, some progress had been made over the past two decades. In this review, we attempt to summarize the developments in the area, with an emphasis on synthesis strategies.