Ionomers and methods of making same and uses thereof

1. An ionomer comprising ionic strained olefin monomer (ISOM) units and optionally random or sequentially placed strained olefin monomer (SOM) units, having the following structure:

ISOM x SOM 1-x

wherein the ISOM and SOM units are connected by carbon-carbon single bonds and/or carbon-carbon double bonds,

wherein the ISOM unit has a non-aromatic hydrocarbon backbone and comprises one or more tetraalkylammonium groups connected to the backbone by an aliphatic polyatomic linkage or aliaromatic polyatomic linkage, and any carbon atoms in the beta position relative to an ammonium nitrogen do not bear hydrogen substituents,

wherein the SOM unit is a non-aromatic hydrocarbon unit,

wherein x is from 0.05 to 1.0, and

wherein the SOM units or ISOM units are formed from SOMs or ISOMs, respectively, that have a strained ring or carbocyclic structure and an alkene moiety in a ring-opening metathesis polymerization.

2. The ionomer of claim 1 , wherein the number average molecular weight of the ionomer, Mn, is from 5,000 to 1,000,000 g/mol and/or the weight average molecular weight of the ionomer, Mw, is from 5,000 to 2,000,000 g/mol.

3. The ionomer of claim 1 , wherein the end groups of the ionomer are independently selected from ═CH 2 , ═CHR (where R is CH 2 W where W is H, alkyl, halide, hydroxide or acetate), ═CHPh, —CH 3 , —CH 2 R (where R is CH 2 W where W is H, alkyl, halide, hydroxide or acetate) and —CH 2 Ph.

4. The ionomer of claim 1 , wherein the ISOM and SOM units are connected by a carbon-carbon double bond and the ionomer has the following structure:

wherein R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are each, independently, a C 1 to C 20 group, wherein if the C 1 to C 20 group has a carbon in the beta position relative to the ammonium nitrogen atom then the beta carbon of the C 1 to C 20 group does not have a hydrogen substituent,

wherein A − is selected from halide, hydroxide, hexafluorophosphate, borate, carbonate, bicarbonate and carboxylate, and

wherein x is from 0.05 to 1.0.

5. The ionomer of claim 1 , wherein the ISOM and SOM units are connected by a carbon-carbon single bond and the ionomer has the following structure:

wherein R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are each, independently, a C 1 to C 20 group, wherein if the C 1 to C 20 group has a carbon in the beta position relative to the ammonium nitrogen atom then the beta carbon of the C 1 to C 20 group does not have a hydrogen substituent,

wherein A − is selected from halide, hydroxide, hexafluorophosphate, borate, carbonate, bicarbonate and carboxylate, and

wherein x is from 0.05 to 1.

6. The ionomer of claim 1 , wherein at least one first ISOM or SOM unit is connected by a polyatomic linking group (PAL) or aliaromatic polyatomic linkage comprising a C 1 to C 20 group, wherein if the C 1 to C 20 group has a carbon in the beta position relative to the ammonium nitrogen atom then the beta carbon of the C 1 to C 20 group does not have a hydrogen substituent, to a second ISOM or SOM unit, and

wherein the second ISOM or SOM unit is in the same ionomer chain as the first ISOM or SOM unit or the second ISOM or SOM unit is a different ionomer chain than the first ISOM or SOM unit.

7. The ionomer of claim 6 , wherein the ISOM and SOM units are connected by a carbon-carbon double bond and the ionomer has the following structure:

wherein R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are, independently, a C 1 to C 20 group, wherein if the C 1 to C 20 group has a carbon in the beta position relative to the ammonium nitrogen atom then the beta carbon of the C 1 to C 20 group does not have a hydrogen substituent,

wherein R 4 is a C 1 to C 20 group,

wherein a first y unit is crosslinked to second y unit in a same or different ionomer chain than the first y unit,

wherein A − is selected from halide, hydroxide, hexafluorophosphate, borate, carbonate, bicarbonate, and carboxylate, and

wherein x is from 0.05 to 1 and x+y+z=1.

8. The ionomer of claim 6 , wherein the ISOM and SOM units are connected by a carbon-carbon single bond and the ionomer has the following structure:

wherein R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are, independently, a C 1 to C 20 group, wherein if the C 1 to C 20 group has a carbon in the beta position relative to the ammonium nitrogen atom then the beta carbon of the C 1 to C 20 group does not have a hydrogen substituent,

wherein R 4 is a C 1 to C 20 group,

wherein a first y unit is crosslinked to second y unit in a same or different ionomer chain than the first y unit,

wherein A − is selected from halide, hydroxide, hexafluorophosphate, borate, carbonate, bicarbonate, and carboxylate, and

wherein x is from 0.05 to 1, and x+y+z=1.

9. The ionomer of claim 6 , wherein the ISOM and SOM units are connected by a carbon-carbon double bond and the ionomer has the following structure:

wherein R 1 and R 2 are, independently, a C 1 to C 20 group, wherein if the C 1 to C 20 group has a carbon in the beta position relative to the ammonium nitrogen atom then the beta carbon of the C 1 to C 20 group does not have a hydrogen substituent,

wherein A − is selected from halide, hydroxide, hexafluorophosphate, borate, carbonate, bicarbonate and carboxylate, and

wherein x is from 0.05 to 1, and

wherein each PAL, independently, comprises a C 1 to C 20 group, wherein if the C 1 to C 20 group has a carbon in the beta position relative to the ammonium nitrogen atom then the beta carbon of the C 1 to C 20 group does not have a hydrogen substituent, and

wherein y is from 0 to 20.

10. The ionomer of claim 9 , wherein the ionomer has the following structure:

11. The ionomer of claim 1 , wherein the ISOM and SOM units are connected by a carbon-carbon single bond and the ionomer has the following structure:

wherein R 1 and R 2 are, independently, a C 1 to C 20 group, wherein if the C 1 to C 20 group has a carbon in the beta position relative to the ammonium nitrogen atom then the beta carbon of the C 1 to C 20 group does not have a hydrogen substituent,

wherein A − is selected from halide, hydroxide, hexafluorophosphate, borate, carbonate, bicarbonate and carboxylate,

wherein x is from 0.05 to 1, and

wherein each PAL or aliaromatic polyatomic linkage, independently, comprises a C 1 to C 20 group, wherein if the C 1 to C 20 group has a carbon in the beta position relative to the ammonium nitrogen atom then the beta carbon of the C 1 to C 20 group does not have a hydrogen substituent, and

wherein y is from 0 to 20.

12. The ionomer of claim 11 , wherein the ionomer has the following structure:

13. The ionomer of claim 1 , wherein the ionomer is synthesized using a transition metal alkene polymerization catalyst, and

wherein the ISOM and SOM units or the ISOM units are connected by a carbon-carbon double bond or carbon-carbon single bond.

14. The ionomer of claim 13 , wherein the ROMP synthesis is carried out using a ruthenium-based metathesis catalyst.

15. The ionomer of claim 13 , wherein at least 50% of the carbon-carbon double bonds linking the repeat units of the ionomer are reduced to carbon-carbon single bonds.

16. The ionomer of claim 13 , wherein the ionomer is synthesized by a ring-opening methathesis polymerization (ROMP) carried out using a monomer comprising at least one tetraalkylammonium group having the following structure:

wherein R 1 is a C 4 to C 20 cycloalkenyl group and the carbon in the beta position relative to the ammonium nitrogen does not have a hydrogen substituent,

wherein R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 and R 6 are, independently, a C 1 to C 20 group, wherein if the C 1 to C 20 group has a carbon in the beta position relative to the ammonium nitrogen atom then the beta carbon of the C 1 to C 20 group does not have a hydrogen substituent,

wherein each R 7 is independently a C 1 to C 20 group, wherein if the C 1 to C 20 group has a carbon in the beta position relative to the ammonium nitrogen atom then the beta carbon of the C 1 to C 20 group does not have a hydrogen substituent,

wherein A − is selected from halide, hydroxide, hexafluorophosphate, borate, carbonate, bicarbonate and carboxylate, and

wherein n is from 0 to 20.

17. The ionomer of claim 16 , wherein the monomer is selected from the following structures:

and combinations thereof,

wherein R 2 , R 3 , R 6 are, independently, a C 1 to C 20 group, wherein if the C 1 to C 20 group has a carbon in the beta position relative to the ammonium nitrogen atom then the beta carbon of the C 1 to C 20 group does not have a hydrogen substituent,

wherein each R 8 is a C 1 -C 20 group,

wherein each R 9 is independently selected from H and C 1 to C 20 group,

wherein c and d are, independently, from 0 to 5,

wherein b is 1 or 2, and

wherein e and f are, independently, from 0 to 4.

18. The ionomer of claim 17 , wherein the monomer is selected from the following structures:

19. The ionomer claim 16 , wherein the compound has the following structure:

wherein R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 are, independently, a C 1 to C 20 group, wherein if the C 1 to C 20 group has a carbon in the beta position relative to the ammonium nitrogen atom then the beta carbon of the C 1 to C 20 group does not have a hydrogen substituent,

wherein each R 8 is a C 1 -C 10 group, and

wherein each R 7 is a polyatomic linking group and is comprised of a C 1 to C 20 group,

wherein if the C 1 to C 20 group has a carbon in the beta position relative to the ammonium nitrogen atom then the beta carbon of the C 1 to C 20 group does not have a hydrogen substituent.

20. The ionomer of claim 19 , wherein the compound has the following structure:

21. The ionomer of claim 16 , wherein the ROMP synthesis is carried out using an additional monomer selected from the following structures:

and combinations thereof,

wherein each R 10 is independently selected from H and a C 1 to C 10 group,

wherein h is from 1 to 10,

wherein g is 1 or 2, and

wherein j and k are, independently, from 0 to 5, except that j and k cannot both be 0 or both be 1.

22. The ionomer of claim 16 , wherein the ROMP synthesis is carried out using an additional monomer selected from the following structures:

and combinations thereof,

wherein each R 10 is independently selected from H and a C 1 to C 10 group,

wherein m is 1 or 2,

wherein p and q are, independently, 1 or 2, and r is from 1 to 20,

wherein each s is, independently, from 0 to 5, and

wherein n is from 0 to 20.