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Ligand steric effects on naphthyl-α-diimine nickel catalyzed α-olefin polymerization

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Abstract

Naphthyl-a-diimine nickel complexes with systematically varied ligand sterics, activated by modified methylaluminoxane (MMAO), were tested in the polymerization of higher a-olefin (1-hexene, 1-decene and 1-hexadecene) under suitable conditions. The polymerization results indicated the possibility of precise microstructure control, depending on catalyst structure, polymerization temperature, monomer concentration and types of monomers, which in turn strongly affects the resultant polymer properties. Naphthyl-a-diimine nickel complex bearing chiral bulky sec-phenethyl groups in the o-naphthyl position showed good catalytic activity, and resulted in branched polymers (42-88/1000C) with high molecular weights (Mn: (4.3-15.2) × 104 g·mol-1) and narrow molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn = 1.13-1.29, RT), which suggested a living polymerization. The increasing steric hindrance of catalyst leads to enhance insertion for 2,1-insertion of a-olefin and the chain-walking reaction.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (WK2060200025), Advanced Catalysis and Green Manufacturing Collaborative Innovation Center (ACGM2016-06-01) and Yixing Taodu Ying Cai Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Catalysis and Green Manufacturing Collaborative Innovation Center, School of Pertrochemical Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, China

    Fu-Zhou Wang, Su-Su Tian, Rui-Ping Li & Wei-Min Li

  2. Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    Chang-Le Chen

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  1. Fu-Zhou Wang
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  2. Su-Su Tian
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  3. Rui-Ping Li
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Correspondence to Fu-Zhou Wang or Chang-Le Chen.

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Invited paper for special issue of “Metal-Catalyzed Polymerization”

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Wang, FZ., Tian, SS., Li, RP. et al. Ligand steric effects on naphthyl-α-diimine nickel catalyzed α-olefin polymerization. Chin J Polym Sci 36, 157–162 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-018-2038-6

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