Palladium-catalyzed carbene coupling polymerization: synthesis of E -poly(arylene vinylene)s.

The Pd-catalyzed carbene coupling reaction of N -tosylhydrazones and benzyl bromides has been developed into a polymerization process for the first time, providing an efficient method for the synthesis of poly(arylene vinylene)s (PAVs). This method affords PAVs bearing E -vinylene units predominantly. It can also introduce a CF 3 group on each vinylene carbon atom in the polymer main chain. The polymerization has a broad scope and the resultant polymers exhibit interesting optical properties and good thermal stabilities.