Linear copolymers of ethylene and acrylonitrile were prepared using palladium complexes bearing phosphine-sulfonate bidentate ligands. Acrylonitrile units located in the linear polyethylene backbones were detected for the first time by 13C NMR spectroscopy. Catalyst systems employing isolated palladium complexes such as 3 showed much higher activity for the copolymerization than the in situ generation procedures, and molecular weight of the ...