Specifics of radical polymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate in the presence of ruthenium carborane complexes

The specifics of the radical polymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate in the presence of ruthenium closo- and exo-nido-carborane complexes with phosphine and diphosphine ligands were investigated. It was shown that, depending on a coinitiator, the polymerization proceeds through the atom transfer radical mechanism or the reverse atom transfer radical mechanism to high conversions without gelation to yield macromolecules with a low polydispersity. The influence of the ligand environment, the oxidation state of ruthenium atoms in the carborane complexes, and the temperature conditions on the specific features of the polymer synthesis was established.