SYNTHESIS OF BRANCHED POLYETHYLENE USING (α-DIIMINE)NICKEL(Ⅱ)TiCl_4 COMBINED AND SUPPORTED CATALYST

Diimine)nickel {[C 6 H 5 -N = C(CH 3 ) - C(CH 3 ) = N - QH 5 ]NiBr 2 }-TiCl 4 , abbreviated as NiL-TiCl 4 combined catalyst which is supported on MgCl 2 -SiO 2 carrier has been prepared, by using alkyl aluminum (AlR 3 ) as the cocatalyst in place of methylaluminoxane (MAO) to catalyze ethylene oligomerization and copolymerization in situ. The influences of procedure for supporting NiL-TiCl 4 , the molar ratio of NiL to TiCl 4 , cocatalyst type and polymerization temperature on the catalytic performance were studied. The degree of branching and the composition of the branched chain of polymers produced have been investigated by IR and 13C-NMR spectra. The results show that the combined catalyst can synthesize the branched polyethylene with various banched chains .The polymerization reaction was monitored by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results show that this catalyst promotes the oligomerization and copolymerization in situ for ethylene.

Study on ethylene/1-hexene copolymerization catalyzed by α-diimine nickel catalysts with different ligands--Dedicated to Professor Xiuwen Han on the occasion of her 80th birthday

The structure of polyolefin has an important influence on its performance and application.Ethylene/1-hexene copolymerization is one of the important ways to control the structure of the polyolefin.However,research on the ethylene/1-hexene copolymerization catalyzed by nickel complexes with different steric ligands remains to be refined.Here,three α-dimine nickel catalysts are used to study the ligand effect on catalytic performance in the ethylene/1-hexene copolymerization.Reaction activity,molecular weight,phase-transition temperature and branching density of the resultant copolymer are measured to evaluate the catalytic performance.The results indicate that the steric ligands could exert great effect on the copolymerization.As for the chemical valence of Ni species,detailed EPR demonstrate that the presence of excess xo-catalyst can reduce Ni(Ⅱ)to the lower valence and affect the catalytic performance.

Simple Preparation of Halogen-Substituted <i>α</i>-Diimine Nickel Complexes Immobilized into Clay Interlayer as Catalysts for Ethylene Oligo-/Polymerization

In the practical use for the production of the α-olefins, it is highly desired to develop a novel heterogeneous catalyst system. The metal complexes immobilized into the clay interlayers show a great potential as heterogeneous catalysts due to their excellent processability. In this study, nine types of heterogeneous procatalyst Ln/Ni2+-micas were synthesized via a one-pot preparation method, which includes both the condensation reaction of the ligand derivatives and the intercalation of the ligands into the Ni2+ ion-exchanged fluorotetrasilicic mica interlayer. The ligand structures of the prepared procatalysts were [Ln: R-N = C(Nap)-C(Nap) = N-R] [(Nap = 1,8-naphthdiyl) (L1, R = 2-MePh;L2, R = 2-FPh;L3, R = 2-BrPh;L4, R = 4-MePh;L5, R = 4-FPh;L6, R = 4-BrPh;L7, R = 2,4-F2Ph;L8, R = 2,4-Br2Ph;L9, R = 2,6-F2Ph). At 50℃ and 0.7 MPaethylene pressure, the triisobutylaluminum-activated L1-L6/Ni2+-mica showed a catalytic activity for the ethylene oligo-/polymerization in the range of 334 - 549 g-ethylene&bull;g-cat–1&bull;h–1. A high catalyst activity was obtained when the substituent having a larger steric bulk than that of a methyl substituent was introduced at the ortho-position of the aryl rings. The introduction of the fluorine substituent as a strong electron-withdrawing group to the para-position also increased the catalytic activity. The L2, L4, L5, and L6/Ni2+-micas showed moderate selectivities to oligomers consisting of C4-C20 in the range of 19.9 - 41.6 wt% at 50℃. The calculated Schulz-Flory constants α based on the mole fraction of C12 and C14 were within 0.61 - 0.78.

Nickel catalysts with asymmetric steric hindrance for ethylene polymerization

α-Diimide catalysts have attracted widespread attention due to their unique chain walking characteristics.A series ofα-diimide nickel/palladium catalysts with different electronic effects and steric hindrances were designed and synthesized for olefin polymerization.In this work,we synthesized a series of asymmetricα-diimide nickel complexes with different steric hindrances and used them for ethylene polymerization.These nickel catalysts have high ethylene polymerization activity,up to 6.51×10^(6)g·mol^(−1)·h^(−1),and the prepared polyethylene has a moderate melting point and high molecular weight(up to 38.2×10^(4)g·mol^(−1)),with a branching density distribution between 7 and 94 branches per 1000 carbons.More importantly,the polyethylene prepared by these catalysts exhibits excellent tensile properties,with strain and stress reaching 800%and 30 MPa,respectively.

Remote electron effects and π-π interactions of α-diimine nickel complexes

The seminal report ofα-diimine palladium and nickel catalysts in 1995 represented a major breakthrough in the preparation of functionalized polyolefin materials.Owing to the high abundance and low cost of nickel,nickel-based catalysts have great application prospects in the industrialization process of olefin coordination polymerization.In this work,various N-aryl substituents with different electronic effects were synthesized and introduced intoα-diimine ligands.The aspreparedα-diimine nickel catalysts showed high polymerization activity(0.9×10^(7)–3.0×10^(7)g·mol^(−1)·h^(−1))in ethylene polymerization,generating polyethylene products with adjustable molecular weights(Mn values:7.4×10^(4)–146.9×10^(4)g·mol^(−1))and branching densities(31/1000 C–68/1000 C).The resulting polyethylene products showed excellent mechanical properties,with high tensile strength(up to 25.0 MPa)and high strain at break values(up to 3890%).The copolymerization of ethylene and polar monomers can also be achieved by these nicekel complexes,ultimately preparing functionalized polyolefins.

High-Performanceα-Diimine Nickel Complexes for Facile Access of PE Elastomers with Exceptional Material Properties

For practicable elastomeric polyethylene,achieving high catalyst thermal stability and activity,along with precise control of polymer properties such as branching density,molecular weights,and distribution,is crucial but challenging.In this study,two sets of symmetricalα-diimine nickel complexes,each comprising four nickel bromide or chloride complexes,were synthesized and investigated their performance for ethylene polymerization under various reaction conditions.Upon activation with either Et2AlCl or MMAO cocatalysts,these complexes displayed not only high activity but also generated high molecular weight polyethylenes with controlled polydispersity and a substantial number of branches.The catalyst with the least steric hindrance displayed the remarkable high activity(up to 1.2×10^(7) g·mol^(-1)·h^(-1)).Notably,nickel bromides demonstrated higher activity compared to their chloride counterparts.The investigation into the effect of reaction temperature on catalytic performance revealed that NiBrMe-MMAO system displayed high thermal stability(activity up to 2.51×10^(6) g·mol^(-1)·h^(-1) at 100℃)and consistently yielded high polymer molecular weights with narrow polydispersity over a broad temperature range of 30-100℃.Of significant note,mechanical analysis of the resulting polyethylene demonstrated excellent ultimate tensile strength and high strain at break.Particularly,the polyethylene sample prepared at 100℃exhibited ultimate tensile strength up to 10 MPa with 1863%maximum strain at break and a strain recovery of up to 54.9%after ten cycles at a fixed strain of 300%,indicating excellent material properties of prepared thermoplastic polyethylene elastomers(TPE).

PREPARATION OF HIGHLY BRANCHED POLYETHYLENE WITH ACENAPHTHENEDHMINE NICKEL CHLORIDE/DIETHYLALUMINUM CHLORIDE CATALYST

The homogeneous catalyst system [ArN C（Nap）-C（Nap）=NAr]NiCl2 （Nap = 1,8-naphthdiyl, Ar = 2,6- diisopropylphenyl）/AlEt2Cl has been prepared and examined for ethylene polymerization. Polymerization conditions such as cocatalyst, Al/Ni molar ratio and polymerization temperature （Tp） have a great effect on catalytic activity and properties of polyethylenes （PE）. The activity of 5.1 × 10^5g PE/mol Ni. h was obtained by the catalyst, activated with AlEt2Cl at 120 of Al/Ni ratio and 30℃. Especially, Tp had a pronounced influence on branches and molecular weight of PE. Branching degree of PE increased with increasing temperature whereas their molecular weight decreased correspondingly. At Tp lower than about 70℃, the resultant PE was an elastic material. When Tp was higher than 70℃, the product was a viscous oil. The resultant PE was confirmed by ^13C-NMR to contain significant amounts of not only methyl but also ethyl, propyl, butyl, amyl, and longer branches （longer than six carbons）. According to gel permeation chromatographic measurement, the weightaverage molecular weights of the polymers obtained ranged from 3.6 × 10^3 to 2.3 × 10^5.

A Phenol-containing α-Diimine Ligand for Nickel-and Palladium-Catalyzed Ethylene Polymerization

A phenol-containing dibenzhydryl-based α-diimine ligand bearing hydroxy group on para-position of aniline moiety was designed, synthesized, and investigated in Ni-and Pd-catalyzed ethylene polymerization. The Ni complex bearing hydroxy groups resulted in not only high polyethylene molecular weight(Mn up to 1.5 × 10^~6), but also significantly increased melting temperature(Tm up to 123℃) and greatly decreased branching density(33/1000 C) versus the Ni catalyst bearing OMe group on para-position of aniline moiety. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the deprotonation of the phenol moiety generated a phenoxide bearing strong electrondonating O-substituent by methylaluminoxane(MAO) cocatalyst. The Pd complexes bearing hydroxy groups exhibited similar catalytic properties to those of the Pd catalyst bearing OMe groups did.

Ligand Steric Effects on Naphthyl-α-diimine Nickel Catalyzed α-Olefin Polymerization

Naphthyl-α-diimine nickel complexes with systematically varied ligand sterics, activated by modified methylaluminoxane（MMAO）, were tested in the polymerization of higher α-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-α-diimine nickel complex bearing chiral bulky sec-phenethyl groups in the o-naphthyl position showed good catalytic activity, and resulted in branched polymers（42-88/1000 C） with high molecular weights（Mn：（4.3-15.2） × 10^4 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 α-olefin and the chain-walking reaction.

Thermostable α-Diimine Nickel Complexes with Substituents on Acenaphthequinone-backbone for Ethylene Polymerization

In order to promote the thermostability of a-diimine nickel complex by ligand backbone structure,a series of α-diimine nickel complexes with substituents on acenaphthequinone backbone were synthesized and used as catalysts for ethylene polymerization.When the hydroxyethyl phenoxyl group was introduced to the acenaphthequinone-backbone,the thermal stability and activity of the catalyst could be significantly improved.The catalytic activity of complex C2[5-(4-(2-hydroxyethyl)phenoxyl)-N,N-bis(2,6-diisopropyl)acenaphthylene-1,2-diimine]nickel(Ⅱ)dibromide with isopropyl substituents on N-aryl reached 8.2×10^6g/(molNi·h)at 70℃and 2 MPa.The activity of[5-(4-(2-hydroxyethyl)phenoxyl)-N,N-bis(2,6-dibenzhydryl-4-menthylphenyl)acenaphthylene-1,2-diimine]nickel(Ⅱ)dibromide(C3)still maintained at 6.7×10^5 g/(molNi·h)at 120℃.Compared with C3 containing bulky dibenzhydryl substituents,the activity of C2 was sensitive to the change of the polymerization pressure.However,the polyethylenes obtained from complex C3 had lower branching density.Meanwhile,the molecular weight could reach 971 kg/mol,which is almost 5 times as much as that of the polyethylene obtained from complex C2.

Nickel(Ⅱ) a-Diimine Catalysts with Carboxyl Groups for Ethylene Oligomerization and Polymerization

A series of nickel（II） α-diimine complexes with strong electron-withdrawing carboxyl groups, having reactive hydrogen atoms, were prepared and used as precatalysts for ethylene oligomerization and/or polymerization. The influence of metal halides and ligand structure on the catalytic activity and properties of products was investigated. The results showed that nickel bromide was much more active than nickel chloride, and the substituents at the ortho-position of aryl ring had large influence on the properties of products. Therefore, the products ranging from liquid oligomers to polymers could be readily obtained by the variation of the substituents on the ligands and reaction conditions.