Development of new selective ethylene trimerization catalysts based on highly active ethylene polymerization catalysts

Synthesis of a Ni Complex Chelated by a [2.2]Paracyclophane-Functionalized Diimine Ligand and Its Catalytic Activity for Olefin Oligomerization

A diimine ligand having two [2.2]paracyclophanyl substituents at the N atoms (L1) was prepared from the reaction of amino[2.2]paracyclophane with acenaphtenequinone. The ligand reacts with NiBr₂(dme) (dme: 1,2-dimethoxyethane) to form the dibromonickel complex with (R,R) and (S,S) configuration, NiBr₂(L1). The structure of the complex was confirmed by X-ray crystallography. NiBr₂(L1) catalyzes oligomerization of ethylene in the presence of methylaluminoxane (MAO) co-catalyst at 10–50 °C to form a mixture of 1- and 2-butenes after 3 h. The reactions for 6 h and 8 h at 25 °C causes further increase of 2-butene formed via isomerization of 1-butene and formation of hexenes. Reaction of 1-hexene catalyzed by NiBr₂(L1)–MAO produces 2-hexene via isomerization and C12 and C18 hydrocarbons via oligomerization. Consumption of 1-hexene of the reaction obeys first-order kinetics. The kinetic parameters were obtained to be ΔG^‡ = 93.6 kJ mol⁻¹, ΔH^‡ = 63.0 kJ mol⁻¹, and ΔS^‡ = −112 J mol⁻¹deg⁻¹. NiBr₂(L1) catalyzes co-dimerization of ethylene and 1-hexene to form C8 hydrocarbons with higher rate and selectivity than the tetramerization of ethylene.

Titanium-based phenoxy-imine catalyst for selective ethylene trimerization: effect of temperature on the activity, selectivity and properties of polymeric side products

A thermal switch of selectivity for a phenoxy-imine titanium catalyst was studied by combining kinetic studies and a “polymer-to-catalyst” approach.

Titanium and Vanadium Catalysts with 2-Hydroxyphenyloxazoline and Oxazine Ligands for Ethylene-Norbornene (co)Polymerization

A series of titanium and vanadium complexes with oxazoline 2-(4,5-dihydro-1,3-oxazol-2-yl)phenol (L1), 2-(4-methyl-4,5-dihydro-1,3-oxazol-2-yl)phenol (L2), and oxazine 2-(5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-oxazin-2-yl)phenol (L3) ligands were synthesized, and their structures were determined by NMR and MS methods as (L)2MtCl2. The vanadium complexes were found to be highly active in ethylene (7300 kgPE/(molV·h)) and ethylene/norbornene (5300 kgCop/(molV·h)) (co)polymerization. The polyethylene characteristics were melting temperature (123–142 °C), crystallinity degree (49–75%), molecular weight (5.7–8.5 × 105 g/mol), molecular weight distribution (1.5–2.4). The ethylene-norbornene (E-NB) copolymer characteristics were molecular weight (2.6–0.9 × 105 g/mol), molecular weight distribution (1.6–2.2), glass transition temperature (4–62 °C), norbornene incorporation (12.3–30.1 mol%) at initial concentration (0.5–1.5 mol/L). The microstructure of E-NB copolymers depends on the catalyst applied with the highest diads content for the (L3)2VCl2 and triads for the (L2)2VCl2 complexes.

Straightforward Design for Phenoxy-Imine Catalytic Activity in Ethylene Polymerization: Theoretical Prediction

The quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) of 18 Ti-phenoxy-imine (FI-Ti)-based catalysts was investigated to clarify the role of the structural properties of the catalysts in polyethylene polymerization activity. The electronic properties of the FI-Ti catalysts were analyzed based on density functional theory with the M06L/6-31G** and LANL2DZ basis functions. The analysis results of the QSAR equation with a genetic algorithm showed that the polyethylene catalytic activity mainly depended on the highest occupied molecular orbital energy level and the total charge of the substituent group on phenylimine ring. The QSAR models showed good predictive ability (R2) and R2 cross validation (R2cv) values of greater than 0.927. The design concept is “head-hat”, where the hats are the phenoxy-imine substituents, and the heads are the transition metals. Thus, for the newly designed series, the phenoxy-imine substituents still remained, while the Ti metal was replaced by Zr or Ni transition metals, entitled FI-Zr and FI-Ni, respectively. Consequently, their polyethylene polymerization activities were predicted based on the obtained QSAR of the FI-Ti models, and it is noteworthy that the FI-Ni metallocene catalysts tend to increase the polyethylene catalytic activity more than that of FI-Zr complexes. Therefore, the new designs of the FI-Ni series are proposed as candidate catalysts for polyethylene polymerization, with their predicted activities in the range of 35,000–48,000 kg(PE)/mol(Cat.)·MPa·h. This combined density functional theory and QSAR analysis is useful and straightforward for molecular design or catalyst screening, especially in industrial research.