Patent ID: 7172755

Claim:
A method of making an amino acid-containing polymer, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a monomer comprising a diene functionalized with an amino acid or amino alcohol; (b) forming a reaction mixture by contacting the monomer with an agent capable of catalyzing the polymerization of the monomer into a polymer wherein said agent is a ruthenium based catalyst or osmium metal carbene complex catalyst comprising metal centers that are in the +2 oxidation state and are of the general Formula I; wherein M is ruthenium or osmium; n is an integer between 0â€“5; L and L 1 are each independently any neutral electron donor ligand; R, R 1 , and R 2 are each independently hydrogen or any hydrocarbyl or silyl moiety; X and X 1 are each independently any anionic ligand; Z and Z 1 are each independently any linker selected from the group nil, â€”Oâ€”, â€”Sâ€”, â€”NR 2 â€”, â€”PR 2 â€”, â€”P(â•O)R 2 â€”, â€”P(OR 2 )â€”, â€”P(â•O)(OR 2 )â€”, â€”C(â•O)â€”, â€”C(â•O)Oâ€”, â€”OC(â•O)â€”, â€”OC(â•O)Oâ€”, â€”S(â•O)â€”, or â€”S(â•O) 2 â€”; and wherein any two or more of X, X 1 , L, L 1 , Z, Z 1 , R, R 1 , and R 2 may be optionally joined together to form a multidentate ligand and wherein any one or more of X, X 1 , L, L 1 , Z, Z 1 , R, R 1 , and R 2 may be optionally linked chemically to a solid or glassy support; and, (c) placing the reaction mixture under conditions that result in the formation of the polymer in the reaction mixture; wherein the monomer has a structure: wherein y is an integer greater or equal to 1, n is an integer greater than 1, m is an integer greater than 2, R is a moiety comprising a hydrogen atom and a carbon atom, and R 1 is any protecting group or H.