Overview of Living Cationic Polymerization. Part 1: The Journey to Living Cationic Polymerization

Abstract

This special lecture, divided into three parts, provides a general overview of living cationic polymerization of vinyl monomers including vinyl ethers, isobutene, and styrenes. The first installment of a three-part series highlights critical researches in the "pre-living" era on controlled initiation, selective chain transfer (oligomerization), and polymer-ization by long-lived species. The first two major breakthroughs are also described briefly in the last section of this article.