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Structure, properties, and deformation behavior of a high molecular weight propene-CO alternating copolymer (ElPCO 200) and ethene-CO/propene-CO terpolymers (EPEC 1; E-CO = 47% and EPEC 2; E-CO = 69%) were investigated. The terpolymer with high molar ratio of ethene-CO to propene-CO (EPEC 2) is a typical thermoplastic and reveals relatively high crystallinity, while the terpolymer of lower content of ethene-CO groups (EPEC 1) and the propene-CO copolymer (ElPCO 200) exhibit elastomeric behavior. In spite of the possible random stereo- and regioregularity, the propene-CO chains crystallize with regular 3/1 chain conformation. According to X-ray data the synthesized terpolymers consist of blocks of propene-CO segments and blocks enriched with ethene-CO groups. The main structural changes at deformation were studied by means of X-ray diffraction and deformation calorimetry. It is established that the large reversible deformation of the samples studied is determined mostly by the amorphous regions. Deformation calorimetry results, treated according to the modern theory of thermoelasticty of rubber-like materials, showed that the energy contribution (ΔU/W) V.T and the temperature coefficient of the unperturbed dimension of chains d In 0 /dT are more negative than for PE and PP, which seems quite reasonable owing to the chemical structure of the 1,4-polyketone macromolecules.

The synthesis of a benzo-15-crown-5 functionalized α-olefin (4′-(undec-10-enylcarboxylate)benzo-15-crown-5, 5) and its terpolymerization with carbon monoxide and various α-olefins are described. A decline of the glass transition temperatures (Tg) of the corresponding terpolymers was observed upon incorporating compound 5 into the polymer main chain. Ion-selective membranes were prepared by encapsulating the benzo-15-crown-5 functionalized α-olefin/CO terpolymers in a microporous polyethylene support. Preliminary ion-transport experiments demonstrate the ability of these novel crown ether substituted polyketones to transport NaClO4 across the membranes. Adjusting the polarity of the polyketones via the length of the olefinic side chain offers a means to control the ion-permeation-rates.

Highly soluble alternating 1-olefin/carbon monoxide copolymers with olefin monomers (H 2 C=CH-R) containing 4, 5, 6, 10, 14, 16 and 18 C-atoms in the R-substituents were prepared by the use of dicationic palladium(II) phosphine catalysts and an optimized amount of methanol as activator. In terpolymerization experiments the influence of icosene-CO or octadecene-CO units, distributed randomly along a propene-CO or ethene-CO copolymer backbone, on molecular weight, glass transition temperature and on the surface polarity of films casted from solution has been investigated. As the length of the α-olefin side chain increases, the glass transition temperature (T g ) of the copolymer is reduced from room temperature to almost -60°C. For octadecene-CO and icosene-CO copolymers side chain crystallization occurs, leading to elastic materials. Contact angle measurements, performed on water drops located on the surface of selected co- and terpolymer films demonstrate the wide range of surface polarity which can be covered by simple copolymerization of polar CO groups with apolar alkenes.