Polyketone

The polar ketone groups in the polymer backbone of these materials gives rise to a strong attraction between polymer chains, which increases the material's melting point (255 °C for copolymer (carbon monoxide ethylene), 220 °C for terpolymer (carbon monoxide, ethylene, propylene).

Unlike many other engineering plastics, aliphatic polyketones such as Shell Chemicals' Carilon are relatively easy to synthesize and can be derived from inexpensive monomers.

Industrially, this polymer is synthesized either as a methanol slurry, or via a gas phase reaction with immobilized catalysts.

[8] Where palladium(II) pre-catalysts bearing monodentate phosphine ligands are used in methanol, a relatively high fraction of methyl propionate is produced.

This observation is rationalized: the bis(phosphine) complex can undergo cis-trans isomerization to give the sterically favored trans isomer.