Patent ID: 7504465

Claim:
A method for preparing linear functional polymers having randomly repeating —CH 2 — units, —CH═CH— units, and units having polar functional substituents, the method comprising the step of copolymerizing a first polar substituted monomer with a second non-polar unsubstituted monomer in the presence of a catalyst having the formula: wherein L 1 and L 2 are independently selected from the group consisting of alkyl phosphine, aryl phosphine, 1,3-dimesitylimidazol-2-ylidene, 1,3-di(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene, 1,3-diarylimidazol-2-ylidene, 1,3-dimesitylimidazolidin-2-ylidene, 1,3-di(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazolidin-2-ylidene, 1,3-diphenyltriazine, and pyridine; L 3 , if present, is pyridine and is identical to L 2 ; and R 4 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, C 1 -C 20 linear alkyl, C 1 -C 20 branched alkyl, C 1 -C 20 cycloalkyl, C 1 -C 20 alkenyl, aryl and phenyl, wherein the first polar substituted monomer is selected from the group consisting of: (i) substituted α,ω-diene monomers having the formula: (ii) substituted cyclic olefins having the formula: wherein e and f are integers greater than or equal to 2, and R 1 represents a polar functional group, and wherein the second non-polar unsubstituted monomer is selected from the group consisting of: (iii) unsubstituted α,ω-diene monomers having the formula: (iv) unsubstituted cyclic olefins having the formula: wherein d is an integer greater than or equal to 4, wherein the ratio of the first polar substituted monomer to the second non-polar unsubstituted monomer is such that the units having polar functional substituents in the linear functional polymer comprise an amount no greater than about 3.2 mol % of the total number of the units combined on a methylene basis.