Trinuclear tris(ansa-metallocene) complexes of zirconium and hafnium for olefin polymerization

L.N. Jende (1) , A. Vantomme , A. Welle , J.-M. Brusson , J.-F. Carpentier (1) , E. Kirillov (1)

1 ISCR - Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes

New platforms for trinuclear complexes, 1,3,5-tris(fluoren-2-yl-R)benzene (Ph{2-FluRH}3; R = H (2a), 6-tBu (2b), 7-tBu (2c), Tet (2d) (Tet = 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-tetrahydrobenzofluorene), were synthesized via an acid-catalyzed cyclotrimerization of the corresponding substituted 2-acetylfluorenes. Subsequent nucleophilic addition of the [Ph{2-FluR}3]3− trianions onto 6,6,-dimethylfulvene afforded the corresponding isopropylidene-bridged pro-ligands Ph{Me2C(2-FluRH)(C5H5)}3 (3a-d). Discrete trinuclear tris(dichloro-ansa-zirconocene and hafnocene), Ph[{Me2C(2-FluR)(C5H4)}MX2]3 (X = Cl 4b-d-Zr, 4c,d-Hf) were prepared by salt metathesis reactions. Some zirconium complexes were further alkylated towards the corresponding tris(dialkyls) (X = Me 5c,d-Zr; X = CH2SiMe3 6c-Zr). The structures of these metal complexes were determined by elemental analyses, and by 1D, inverse 2D heteronuclear correlation, and DOSY NMR spectroscopy, as well as by theoretical computations. Those studies revealed the existence of two isomers, of C3 and C1 symmetry respectively, originating from the mutual orientation of the three ansa-metallocene fragments. Preliminary studies on the catalytic performances of the dichloro complexes, upon activation with MAO, in ethylene and propylene homopolymerization and ethylene/1-hexene copolymerization were carried out and compared to those of the monometallic analogues under identical conditions.

Mots clés: Ansa-metallocene; Olefin polymerization; Trinuclear complexes; Zirconium

Domaines: Catalyse; Polymères

L.N. Jende, A. Vantomme, A. Welle, J.-M. Brusson, J.-F. Carpentier, et al.. Trinuclear tris(ansa-metallocene) complexes of zirconium and hafnium for olefin polymerization. Journal of Organometallic Chemistry, 2018, 878, pp.19-29. ⟨10.1016/j.jorganchem.2018.09.028⟩. ⟨hal-01905113⟩