Patent ID: 8338550

Claim:
A polymerisation process comprising: a) subjecting at least one cyclic alkene compound to a ring-opening metathesis polymerisation (ROMP) reaction using a transition metal ROMP catalyst comprising the following formula: wherein: R 1 is alkyl, aryl, alkylether, alkylthioether, arylether, arylthioether and in which, when R 1 contains an aryl component, the aryl component may be substituted; R 2 is an N-heterocyclic carbene; R 3 and R 4 are heterocyclic ligands [which are capable of lone pair donation and] which may be the same or different, and each X is an electron-withdrawing group which may be the same or different and is selected from halogen, hetero-substituted aromatic groups and hetero-substituted aliphatic groups; in the presence of a compound from which a heterocyclic ligand R 3 and R 4 may be derived by interaction with the catalyst; b) adding sufficient of an acyclic alkene having a carbon-carbon double bond capable of reacting with the catalytic metal moieties attached to the living end of each of the polymer chains generated in step a) to end cap the polymer chains and to generate an olefin metathesis transition metal catalyst; and c) optionally repeating steps a) and b).