Computational studies of the Brookhart's type catalysts for ethylene polymerization. 1. Effect of the active site conformations on the catalyst activities

Abstract

DFT calculations have been carried out on the cationic species for the two different Brookhart's catalyst systems: [{ArNCH–HCNAr}NiR″] + ( 3a) and [{ArNCMe–MeCNAr}NiR″] + ( 3b) (where Ar={2,6-C 6H 3(Me) 2} and R″=Me). These calculations reveal that the conformation of aryl groups attached to nitrogen atoms could provide a suitable explanation for the large experimental differences found in the ethylene polymerization activity.