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Macromolecules, Vol.51, No.6, 2401-2410, 2018
Catalyst Nuclearity Effects on Stereo- and Regioinduction in Pyridylamidohafnium-Catalyzed Propylene and 1-Octene Polymerizations
In comparison to monometallic controls, bimetallic olefin polymerization catalysts often exhibit superior performance in terms of higher polyolefin M-w, higher comonomer incorporation, and higher polar comonomer tolerance. However, using cooperating catalyst centers to modulate stereoselectivity in alpha-olefin polymerizations is relatively unexplored. In this contribution, the monometallic Hf(IV) complex, L-1-HfMe2 (catalyst A, L-1 = 2,6-diisopropyl-N-{(2-isopropylphenyl)[6-(naphthalen-1-yl)pyridin-2-yl]methyl}aniline), and homo-bimetallic Hf(IV) complexes, L-2-Hf2Me5 (catalyst B) and L-2-Hf2Me4 (catalyst C) (L-2 = N,N'-{[naphthalene-1,4-diylbis(pyridine-6,2-diyl)]bis[(2-isopropylphenyl)methylene)]bis(2,6-diisopropylaniline}), are activated with Ph3C+B(C6F5)(4)(-) and investigated in propylene and 1-octene homopolymerizations. In propylene polymerizations, the conformationally flexible catalyst B-derived bimetallic dicationic catalyst produces higher M-w polypropylene (up to 7.8x), higher total stereo- and regiodefect densities (up to 3.5x), and lower T-m (by as much as similar to 14 degrees C) versus the monometallic catalyst A-derived control. In 1-octene polymerizations, the conformationally flexible catalyst B-derived bimetallic dicationic catalyst induces greatly reduced isotacticity (23% reduction in [mmmm]) versus the catalyst A-derived monometallic control ([mmmm] > 99%). Interestingly, conformationally flexible catalyst B-derived cationic bimetallic Hf catalysts are also known to undergo rapid intramolecular/intermetal methyl exchange and to exhibit strong Hf center dot center dot center dot Hf cooperative enchainment effects in ethylene homo- and copolymerizations. Steric effects and intramolecular intermetal chain transfer likely both contribute to the increased isotactic polyolefin stereo- and regiodefect content.