In mold addition polymerization of norbornene-type monomers using group 10 metal complexes

A method of making a polymeric article by the in-mold addition polymerization of a polycycloolefin monomer composition comprising:

• (a) combining a plurality of reactant streams to form a reaction mixture, at least one of said streams comprises a Group 10 transition metal procatalyst, and another of said reactant streams comprises an activator salt comprising cation and a weakly coordinating anion, wherein said cation is selected from the group consisting of a Group 1 element cation, a Group 2 metal cation, and a transition metal cation selected from the group consisting of zinc, silver, and thallium, and at least one of said streams containing a polycycloolefin monomer containing one polymerizable norbornene-type moiety;
• and
• (b) injecting said reaction mixture into a mold where polymerization occurs, forming a polymeric article in the shape of the mold.

A reactant formulation comprising a polycycloolefin monomer and a Group 10 transition metal procatalyst wherein said polycycloolefin monomer comprises a multifunctional polycycloolefin containing at least two polymerizable norbornene-type moieties.

A reactant composition comprising a polycycloolefin monomer wherein said polycycloolefin monomer comprises a multifunctional polycycloolefin containing at least two polymerizable norbornene-type moieties and an activator salt of the formula:

• [C(L″)z]b[WCA]d
• wherein C represents a proton, an alkaline earth metal cation, a transition metal cation or an organic group containing cation, L″ is a labile neutral electron donor ligand, and WCA is a weakly coordinating counteranion, z is an integer from 0 to 8, and b and d represent the number of times the cation complex and weakly coordinating counteranion complex, respectively, are taken to balance the electronic charge on the overall salt complex.

The reactant composition of claim or 56 wherein said multifunctional polycycloolefin monomer is present in a range from 0.25 to 99.75 mole % of the total polycycloolefin monomer composition.

A salt composition comprising a compound of the formula:

• C(L″)z[WCA]
• wherein C is lithium or sodium, L″ is an alcohol and z is an integer between 2 and 8 inclusive, and WCA is a weakly coordinating counteranion.

A crosslinked addition polymer polymerized from a monomer mixture comprising a polycycloolefin containing one polymerizable norbornene-type moiety and a multifunctional polycycloolefin containing at least two polymerizable norbornene-type moieties.