Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization- Based Synthesis of CaCO 3 Nanoparticle- Reinforced Polymeric Monoliths for Tissue Engineering Franziska Weichelt, Bernhard Frerich, Solvig Lenz, Stefanie Tiede, Michael R. Buchmeiser* Introduction Introduced into separation science some 20 years ago, monolithic supports nowadays hold a strong position in separation science. [1] Monolithic materials may be prepared via various polymerization techniques including free radical and controlled free radical polymerization, polyaddition and polycondensation. [1] During the last years, we have devel- oped alternative techniques based on ring-opening meta- thesis polymerization (ROMP) and electron beam (EB) triggered free radical polymerization. [2] . Taking advantage of the living nature of the ROMP-based polymerization protocol, polymer microglobule diameters, pore size dis- tribution and specific surface areas could successfully be varied in a highly reproducible way. In addition, functio- nalization can be accomplished in situ. Complete removal of the initiator leading to Ru-contaminations <<100 ppb as Communication F. Weichelt Leibniz-Institut fu ¨r Oberfla ¨chenmodifizierung e. V. IOM, Permoserstrasse 15, D-04318 Leipzig, Germany M. R. Buchmeiser Institut fu ¨r Polymerchemie, Lehrstuhl fu ¨r Makromolekulare Stoffe und Faserchemie, Universita ¨t Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 55, D- 70569 Stuttgart, Germany Fax: þ49 (0) 711 685 64050; E-mail: michael.buchmeiser@ipoc.uni-stuttgart.de M. R. Buchmeiser Institut fu ¨r Textilchemieund Chemiefasern, Ko¨rschtalstrasse26, D-73770 Denkendorf, Germany B. Frerich, S. Lenz, S. Tiede Klinik und Poliklinik fu ¨r Mund-, Kiefer- und Plastische Gesichtschirurgie, Universita ¨tsklinikum Rostock, Schillingallee 35, D-18057 Rostock, Germany Porous monolithic materials have been prepared via ring-opening metathesis polymerization from norborn-2-ene and a 7-oxanorborn-2-ene-based cross-linker in the presence of porogenic solvents (i.e., 2-propanol and toluene) and norborn-2-enephosphonate surface-modified CaCO 3 nanoparticles, using the 3 rd -generation Grubbs-initiator RuCl 2 (Py) 2 (IMesH 2 )(CHPh). The exper- imental setup and the conditions chosen allowed for the manufacturing of polymeric mono- liths characterized by a homogeneous distribution of the inorganic nanoparticles throughout the polymeric mono- lith. Depending on the nanoparticle content, the macro- pore diameters could be varied in the 30–120 mm regime. Noteworthy, the addition of nanoparticles did not affect the phase separation-triggered formation of the mono- lithic matrix nor the meso- and microporosity as evi- denced by N 2 -adsorption experiments. 1540 Macromol. Rapid Commun. 2010, 31, 1540–1545 ß 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim wileyonlinelibrary.com DOI: 10.1002/marc.201000317