Polyethylene materials with in-chain ketones from nonalternating catalytic copolymerization

The world’s most abundantly manufactured plastic, polyethylene, consists of inert hydrocarbon chains. The introduction of reactive polar groups in these chains could help overcome problematic environmental persistence and enhance compatibility with other materials. We show that phosphinophenolate-coordinated nickel complexes can catalyze nonalternating copolymerization of ethylene with carbon monoxide to incorporate a low density of individual in-chain keto groups in polyethylene chains with high molecular weight while retaining desirable material properties. After processing by conventional injection molding techniques, tensile properties remain on par with those of standard high-density polyethylene while also imparting photodegradability.