Ring-opening polymerization of some aryl substituted polycyclic alkenes

The work described in this thesis is concerned with an investigation of the polymerizability of aryl substituted polycyclic alkenes by ring-opening using metathesis catalyst systems. The synthesis, purification and characterization of the monomers required for this work are described in Chapter 2. Successful ring-open polymerizations are described in Chapter 3 together with the unsuccessful attempts to ring open polymerize some heteroatom substituted compounds. The characterization of the new polymers is discussed in Chapter 4 together with some preliminary results concerning the susceptibility of these polymers to the photo-oxidative degradation.