Living Anionic Polymerization of Benzofulvene: Highly Reactive Fixed Transoid 1,3-Diene.

Anionic polymerization of benzofulvene (, α-methyleneindene), an exomethylene monomer having a fixed transoid 1,3-diene moiety, quantitatively proceeded with -BuLi or diphenylmethylpotassium in THF at -78 °C for 1 h. The resulting poly()s possessed the predicted molecular weights based on the molar ratios between monomer and initiators and narrow molecular weight distributions (/ = 1.1).