A Remarkably Facile Zirconium(IV) → Aluminum(III) β-Diketiminate Transmetalation That Also Results in a More Active Olefin Polymerization Catalyst upon Activation

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(R-IAN)2ZrX2 complexes, where X = NMe2, Cl, have recently emerged as effective olefin polymerization precatalysts bearing chiral ligands formally of the β-diketimine class. An attempt to exchange dimethylamido ligands for alkyl (methyl) using the Jordan protocol resulted in a surprisingly facile transmetalation of the bidentate Me-IAN ligands from zirconium(IV) to aluminum(III). An initial study of the process and the finding that the (R-IAN)AlMe2 complexes that result are more potent precatalysts themselves provide a case study within the rapidly growing area of catalysis based on β-diketiminate metal complexes.