Recent Progress in the Vinylic Polymerization and Copolymerization of Norbornene Catalyzed by Transition Metal Catalysts

Here progress in the development of the catalytic addition polymerization and copolymerization of norbornene by various transition-metal complexes is described. A full literature account is given in this review mostly covering the years of 2000 to the early of 2009. The interest in vinyl homo-polynorbornene is driven by its dielectric and mechanical properties for the technical application as an interlevel dielectric in microelectronics applications. For comparison, the norbornene/olefin copolymerization is also considered. The metal catalysts of Ti, Cr, Zr, V, Fe, Co, Ni, Pd and Cu are introduced and methylalumoxane (MAO) or perfluorinated borane, e.g. B(C6F5)3, cocatalysts are presented in terms of their activity and ligand effects are emphasized.