Novel cycloaurated gold(III) complexes and their effects on styrene polymerization

Novel cycloaurated gold(III) complexes were prepared by using Schiff bases with different substituents. Effects of the synthesized gold(III) complexes and substituent groups on styrene polymerization were investigated. As a result of these investigations, it was observed that gold(III) complexes could not catalyze polymerization reaction without addition of a co-catalyst like NaBAr'(4) (Ar'=3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl) phenyl). All ligands and complexes were characterized by using H-1 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), C-13-NMR, LC-MS, elemental analysis and FT-IR techniques. The architecture of the polymer was determined as an atactic or sydiotactic polymer by using C-13-NMR and DSC techniques. Molecular weights of the polymers were analyzed by using gel permeation chromatogram (GPC).