Methacrylic acid-co-poly(ethylene glycol methacrylate) (MAA-co-PEGMA) copolymers (MPEG-type polycarboxylate ether (PCE) superplasticizers) are characterized by a comb-like structure. Although they have been used for years as dispersants in cementitious formulations, their structure–property relationship is still not fully understood. In this work, PCEs with uniform composition and different cha...

All the intermediates in the "carboalkoxy" pathway, and their interconversions giving complete catalytic cycles, for palladium-diphosphine-catalyzed hydroalkoxycarbonylation of alkenes, and for alkene-CO copolymerization, have been demonstrated using (31)P{(1)H} and (13)C{(1)H} NMR spectroscopy. The propagation and termination steps of the "hydride" cycles and the crossover between the hydride ...

Copolymerisation of carbenes and olefins (ethene), mediated by Rh-based catalyst precursors, is presented as a new, proof-of-concept methodology for the controlled synthesis of functional polymers. The reactions studied show that olefin-carbene polymerisation reactions provide a viable alternative to more traditional olefin polymerization techniques. Rh(III)-catalyst precursors, while active in...

The propensity of a half-sandwich (η5-tetramethylcyclopentadienyl) dimethylsilylamido Ti-based catalyst bearing an auxiliary diethylboryl-protected pyridyl moiety (Ti-8), activated by methylaluminoxane (MAO) to homopolymerize α-olefins such as ethylene, 1-hexene and styrene as well as to copolymerize styrene with 1,3-cyclohexadiene is described. The reactivity of Ti-8 was investigated in compar...