Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization and Hydrogenation of Ethyl-substituted Tetracyclododecene

Ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of an ethyl-substituted tetracyclododecene (8-ethyltetracyclo[$4.4.0.1^{2,5}.1^{7,10}$] dodec-3-ene, Et-TCD) was carried out in the presence of a ternary catalyst system consisting of $WCl_6$, triisobutyl aluminium (iso$Bu_3Al$), and ethanol. The optimal molar ratio of Et-TCD/$WCl_3$/iso-$Bu_3Al$/ethanol was found as 500/1/3/2 at which the yield of ring-opened polymer was 100%. 1-Hexene was shown to be an effective molecular weight controlling agent for ROMP reaction of Et-TCD. The hydrogenation of the ring opened polymer (p-Et-TCD) was conducted successfully using Pd(5 wt %)/${\gamma}$-$Al_2O_3$ at $80^{\circ}C$ for 1 h. Chemical structures of p-Et-TCD and its hydrogenated product($H_2$-p-Et-TCD) were characterized using 2D NMR techniques ($^1H-^1H$ COSY and $^1H-^{13}C$ HSQC). The changes of physical properties such as thermal stability, glass transition temperature and light transmittance after the hydrogenation were also investigated using TGA, DSC, and UV.