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A New Strain-Crystallizable Rubber via Neodymocene-Catalyzed Regio-, Stereo-, and Sequence-Selective Copolymerization of Isoprene and Ethylene

Authors

• Li Jia, University of AkronFollow
• Lei Zhu, Case Western ReserveFollow
• Zhenxing Chen, Case Western Reserve
• Jingqing Lyu, University of AkronFollow

Author 1 OrcID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1648-1465

Author 2 OrcID

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6570-9123

Author 3 OrcID

https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9488-5892

Author 4 OrcID

https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9385-7085

Description

An ansa-neodymocene catalyst previously reported in the literature has been identified to catalyze the title copolymerization to afford poly(1,4-trans-isoprene–ethylene) with 95% selectivity for the major microstructure. Such structural regularity is minimally required for the rubbery product, dubbed isoprene–ethylene rubber (IER), to exhibit prominent strain-induced crystallization (SIC) at 0 °C. The mechanical properties of IER rival those of natural rubber when SIC occurs. The unit cell of the strain-induced crystals is monoclinic with a = 2.21 nm, b = 0.72 nm, c = 1.30 nm, and β = 110.8°. Each unit cell is estimated to contain 12 chains in the ac plane and one repeat unit along the b axis.

Publisher name

Royal Society of Chemistry

Grant Information

N/A

Data Management

N/A

Document Type

Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Link

https://doi.org/10.1039/d6cc00180g

Publication Date

3-3-2026

Publication Title

Chemistry Communication

Volume

62

Issue

17

First Page

5068

Last Page

5072

Recommended Citation

Jia, Li; Zhu, Lei; Chen, Zhenxing; and Lyu, Jingqing, "A New Strain-Crystallizable Rubber via Neodymocene-Catalyzed Regio-, Stereo-, and Sequence-Selective Copolymerization of Isoprene and Ethylene" (2026). University Research. 65.
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/university_research/65

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License