Functional End Groups in Living Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization

Over the last two decades many synthetic methods have been reported to selectively introduce a number of different functional groups at the chain end of a living ring-opening metathesis polymer. In this personal account, I would like to focus on a few such methods developed in my research group over the last several years and how these led to the discovery of catalytic living ring-opening metathesis polymerization, a ring-opening metathesis polymerization method controlled by the polymer end groups. This account consists of the following sections:1 Introduction2 Functionalization of the Propagating Chain End3 Functionalization of the Initiating Chain End4 Polymerization Control by Functional End Groups5 Conclusions