Mitigating chain‐transfer and enhancing the thermal stability of co‐based olefin polymerization catalysts through sterically demanding ligands

Abstract

Sterically demanding Fe‐ and Co‐based olefin polymerization catalysts 2‐Fe and 2‐Co bearing 2,6‐bis(biphenylmethyl)‐4‐methylaniline substituted bis(imino)pyridine ligands were synthesized and evaluated for ethylene polymerization. The late‐transition metal complexes were characterized by X‐ray diffraction, NMR spectroscopy, and HRMS, while their resultant polymers were characterized by size‐exclusion chromatography and 1H NMR spectroscopy. While catalyst 2‐Fe was inactive, catalyst 2‐Co was found to polymerize ethylene and avoid any detectable chain‐transfer to aluminum events that are known to plague other Fe‐ and Co‐based catalyst systems and to limit molecular weight. Furthermore, 2‐Co displays virtually perfect thermal stability up to 80 °C and shows greatly enhanced thermal stability at 90 °C as compared to previously reported analogues. These observations are attributed to the extreme steric demand imposed by the ligand which mitigates catalyst transfer, deactivation, and decomposition reactions. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 3990–3995

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Sep 17, 2017
Source ID
10.1002/pola.28783

Entities

People

  • Brian K Long
  • Nolan E. Mitchell
  • W. Curtis Anderson Jr.

Organizations

  • Army Research Office
  • University of Tennessee

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Chemistry

Readers

  • Nanocomposite Materials Science
  • Organic Chemistry
  • Powder metallurgy of Titanium alloys.