Hafnium Amidoquinoline Complexes: Highly Active Olefin Polymerization Catalysts with Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Capacity

Abstract

The preparation and characterization of a new class of polyolefin procatalysts is described. Hafnium tribenzyl procatalysts, supported by amidoquinoline ligands, were prepared in two steps from commercially available materials. Solid-state structures, determined by single-crystal X-ray analyses, revealed that all the hafnium complexes display approximate trigonal-bipyramidal geometry around the metal center. The complexes were evaluated in an ethylene/1-octene copolymerization study and were found to be highly active at elevated temperatures (120 °C). The best catalyst, derived from ((2,6-dimethylphenyl)(2,4-dimethylquinolin-8-yl)amino)tribenzylhafnium (6d), compares favorably to previously reported systems supported by bidentate nitrogen-based ligands. In particular, this catalyst exhibits very high molecular weight capacity and high catalytic activity, with a moderate 1-octene response. Alkyl substitution at the carbon ortho to the quinolino nitrogen was found to be an important factor for improving pol...