Process for the preparation of polymers

Abstract From the Canadian patent

Polymers of carbon monoxide with one or more olefinically unsaturated compounds are prepared by contacting the monomers at an elevated temperature and pressure and in the presence of a diluent made up of a mixture of water and one or more aprotic polar liquids in which the polymers are insoluble or virtually insoluble, with a solution of a catalyst composition on the basis of:, a) a palladium compound b) an anion of an acid with a pKa of less than 4 and, c) a bisphosphine of the general formula (R1)2P-R-P(R1)2, wherein R1 represents an optionally polar-substituted aromatic hydrocarbyl group and R is a bivalent organic bridging group containing at least two carbon atoms in the bridge.