High activity acetylene polymerisation with a bis(imino) pyridine iron(II) catalyst

A catalyst system composed of a 2,6-bis(arylimino)pyridineiron(II) dichloride complex and methylaluminoxane is found to be extremely active for acetylene polymerisation. The formation of poly(acetylene) gels and surface films occurs at very low catalyst concentrations, around three orders of magnitude lower than traditional catalyst systems.