The unsymmetrical bis(imino)acenaphthene derivatives modified by ortho-chloro and para-flouro groups, 1-[2{(C6H5)2CH}-6-Cl-4-FC6H2N]-2-(ArN)C2C10H6 (Ar = 2,6-Me2C6H3 L1, 2,6-Et2C6H3 L2, 2,6-iPr2C6H3 L3, 2,4,6Me3C6H2 L4, 2,6-Et2-4-MeC6H2 L5, 2-{(C6H5)2CH}-6-Cl-4-FC6H2 L6), as well as their nickel complexes, LNiBr2 and LNiCl2 (Ni1-Ni12), have been synthesized in high yields and fully characterized by the NMR, FT-IR and elemental analysis. Moreover, the molecular structures of Ni1 and Ni11 are confirmed by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction revealing the distorted tetrahedral geometry of Ni1 and the distorted octahedral geometry of Ni11 with dimer configuration. Upon activation with AlEt2Cl and MMAO, all nickel complexes exhibit high activities in ethylene polymerization up to the range of 107 g of PE (mol of Ni)-1 h-1 at an optimal temperature of 60 degrees C producing moderately branched polyethylene (31-96 branches / 1000 C) with medium molecular weight (Mw: 0.35-3.06 x 105 g mol-1) and narrow molecular weight distribution (PDI: 1.62- 2.62). In comparison the polymerization solvent with toluene, hexane, as a potentially industrial application, significantly improve the catalytic performance regarding their activities and molecular weights of resulting polyethylenes. In addition, excellent tensile performance (sigma b up to 25.3 MPa, epsilon b up to 1635 %) and good elastic recovery characteristics (up to 69 %) are significant features of the obtained thermoplastic polyethylene elastomer.

5,6,7-Trihydroquinolin-8-one was condensed with the corresponding benzidine to give N,N′-bis(5,6,7-trihydroquinolin-8-ylidene)-[1,1′-biphenyl]-4,4′-diamine derivatives (L1–L3). The ligands were reacted with two equivalents of NiCl2·6H2O in a mixture of EtOH and CH2Cl2 to afford the corresponding dinickel(II) chloride complexes (Ni1−Ni3). The organic compounds were completely characterized, whilst the bi-metallic complexes were characterized by FTIR spectra and elemental analysis. These nickel complexes exhibited high activities towards ethylene polymerization in the presence of either MAO or Me2AlCl, maintaining a high activity over a prolonged period. The obtained polyethylenes were confirmed as having low molecular weights by GPC analysis.

The trichlorozirconium η 2-hydrazonides (R=H, A; R=CH3, B) were synthesized through the finely controlled stoichiometrical reactions of anhydrous zirconium tetrachloride with the lithium salt of either 1-(furan-2-ylmethylene)-2-phenylhydrazonide or 1-(furan-2-ylethylidene)-2-phenyl hydrazonide in the solvent tetrahydrofuran (THF), respectively. These complexes were highly sensitive to air and moisture due to solely using less bulky ligand of hydrazonides. The molecular structures of the title complexes, determined by means of single crystal X-ray diffraction, were found to be the distorted pentagonal bipyramid geometry around zirconium atom, with three chlorides and the hydrazonato ligand acting as the η 2-coordination mode as well as two incorporated THF molecules. Upon activation with either methylaluminoxane (MAO) or modified methylaluminoxane (MMAO), both complexes A and B exhibited catalytic activities toward ethylene polymerization, producing polyethylenes with ultra-high molecular weights.

The title complexes showed good activities toward ethylene reactivity when obtained oligomers followed a Poisson distribution, but the mononuclear cobalt complexes showed higher activities than the cobalt–nickel analogues.

A series of 1-[2-(bis(4-fluorophenyl)methyl)-4,6-dimethylphenylimino]-2-aryliminoacenaphthylene derivatives together with the corresponding nickel bromide complexes was synthesized and characterized. Representative complexes C2 and C5 were characterized by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction, revealing a distorted tetrahedral geometry. Upon activation with either methylaluminoxane (MAO) or ethylaluminum sesquichloride (EASC), all nickel complexes exhibited high activities towards ethylene polymerization, producing polyethylene with a relatively low degree of branching and narrow polydispersity. Complex C1 maintained good activity at elevated reaction temperatures, which indicates significant thermal stability of the active species.

A series of remote benzhydryl-substituted 2,3-diiminobutane derivatives (L1–L5) was synthesized and used to react with (DME)NiBr2 to form the corresponding 2,3-diiminobutylnickel bromide complexes (Ni1–Ni5). All compounds were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and elemental analysis as well as additional NMR measurements for organic compounds and single crystal X-ray diffraction study for a representative complex Ni1. Upon activation with cocatalyst Et2AlCl, all nickel complexes exhibited high activity toward ethylene polymerization, producing polyethylenes with high molecular weights and narrow polydispersity. The existence of remote para-benzhydryl substituent probably retarded chain migration, which led to polyethylenes with high molecular weights and high linearity.

A series of binuclear 4,5,9,10-tetra(arylimino)pyrenylidenyldipalladium(ii) tetrachloride complexes (Pd1–Pd4) was synthesized and characterized by FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy as well as elemental analysis.

A series of 2-(2-benzhydrylnaphthyliminomethyl)pyridine derivatives (L1–L3) was prepared and used to synthesize the corresponding bis-ligated nickel(II) halide complexes (Ni1–Ni6) in good yield. The molecular structures of representative complexes, namely the bromide Ni3 and the chloride complex Ni6, were confirmed by single crystal X–ray diffraction, and revealed a distorted octahedral geometry at 10 nickel. Upon activation with either methylaluminoxane (MAO) or modified methylaluminoxane (MMAO), all nickel complex pre-catalysts exhibited high activities (up to 2.02 × 107 g(PE)·mol−1(Ni)·h−1) towards ethylene polymerization, producing branched polyethylene of low molecular weight and narrow polydispersity. The influence of the reaction parameters and the nature of the ligands on the catalytic behavior of the title nickel complexes were investigated. 15

A series of biphenyl-bridged 6-(1-aryliminoethyl)-2-iminopyridine derivatives reacted with cobalt dichloride in dichloromethane/ethanol to afford the corresponding binuclear cobalt complexes. The cobalt complexes were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and elemental analysis, and the structure of a representative complex was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Upon activation with either MAO or MMAO, these cobalt complexes performed with high activities of up to 1.2 x 10(7) g (mol of Co)(-1) h(-1) in ethylene polymerization, which represents one of the most active cobalt-based catalytic systems in ethylene reactivity. These biphenyl-bridged bis(imino)pyridylcobalt precatalysts exhibited higher activities than did their mononuclear bis(imino)pyridylcobalt precatalyst counterparts, and more importantly, the binuclear precatalysts revealed a better thermal stability and longer lifetimes. The polyethylenes obtained were characterized by GPC, DSC, and high-temperature NMR spectroscopy and mostly possessed unimodal and highly linear features.

Pyrene-4,5,9,10-tetraone was prepared via the oxidation of pyrene, and reacted with various anilines to afford a series of 4,5,9,10-tetra(arylimino)pyrenylidene derivatives (L1-L4). The tetraimino-pyrene compounds L1 and L2 were reacted with two equivalents of (DME)NiBr2 in CH2Cl2 to afford the corresponding dinickel bromide complexes (Ni1 and Ni2). The organic compounds were fully characterized, whilst the bi-metallic complexes were characterized by FT-IR spectra and elemental analysis. The molecular structures of representative organic and nickel compounds were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. These nickel complexes exhibited high activities towards ethylene polymerization in the presence of either MAO or Me2AlCl, maintaining a high activity over a prolonged period (longer than previously reported dinickel complex pre-catalysts). The polyethylene obtained was characterized by GPC, DSC and FT-IR spectroscopy and was found to possess branched features.

Reaction of [VO(OnPr)3] with the Schiff bases 3,5-(tBu)2-2-OH-C6H2CH(N(x-OR-C6H4)) (R = Me; x = 2, L(1)H; x = 3, L(2)H; x = 4, L(3)H; R = Et (L(4)H), CF3 (L(5)H), Ph (L(6)H)) or 4-methyl-3-(R)-2-(OH)-C6H4C[double bond, length as m-dash]N(2'-(2''-(OR1)C6H4)C6H4) (R = adamantyl, R(1) = Ph (L(7)H) or R = C(Me)2Ph, R(1) = Ph (L(8)H)) afforded the bis(chelate) vanadium(iv) complexes [VO(L(n))2] (n = 1 (1·2MeCN); n = 2 (2); n = 3 (3·2MeCN); n = 4 (4); n = 5 (5); n = 6 (6); n = 6, (7·1.5MeCN); n = 7, (8); n = 8, (9)); in the case of L(6)H, the oxo-bridged vanadium(v) complexes [VO(μ-O)(L(6))]2 (10) was also isolated. By contrast, interaction of 4-methyl-3-(R)-2-(OH)-C6H4C[double bond, length as m-dash]N(2'-(2''-(OR1)C6H4)C6H4) (R = adamantyl, R(1) = Me (L(9)H); R = tBu, R(1) = Me (L(10)H); R = C(Me)2Ph, R(1) = Me (L(11)H)) with [VO(OnPr)3] led to the isolation of the dinuclear complexes [VO(μ-OH)(μ-OnPr)(L(n))]2 (n = 9, (·4MeCN); 10, (12); 11, (13)), respectively. The molecular structures of 1 to 13 are reported. All complexes have been screened as pre-catalysts for the polymerization of ethylene in the presence of the co-catalyst diethylaluminium chloride (DEAC) with or without ethyltrichloroacetate (ETA) present at 1 or 10 bar of ethylene. Under high pressure, all pre-catalysts exhibited high activity and afforded high molecular weight (Mw ≈ 200 000 to 675 000 g mol(-1)), linear polyethylene with activities (in the presence of ETA) in the range 4960-16 400 g mmol(-1) h(-1); at one bar, the products were generally of lower molecular weight. The use of methylaluminoxane (MAO) or modified MAO (MMAO) as co-catalyst led to trace or poor (≤110 g mmol(-1) h(-1)) activity, respectively.

A series of 2-(1-arylimino)ethyl-9-arylimino-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrocycloheptapyridine derivatives was synthesized and fully characterized, and thereafter reacted with iron dichloride to form their corresponding iron(II) complexes. The single crystals of representative organic and iron complex compounds were obtained and analyzed by the X-ray diffraction analysis, indicating the distorted bipyramidal geometry around the iron core. Moreover, DFT calculations were performed on selected species to determine their structural features. On treatment with either MAO or MMAO, all iron complex pre-catalysts showed high activities (up to 1.56 × 10(7) gPE mol(-1)(Fe) h(-1)) toward ethylene polymerization. Regarding the nature of the ligands and reaction parameters, their catalytic activities and the characters of the obtained polyethylenes have been carefully investigated. The ring strain of the fused-cycloheptane of the ligands within iron complexes was considered to affect their catalytic performance in ethylene polymerization. The active species were activated and controlled by using a co-catalyst of MMAO preferred over MAO, and the obtained polyethylenes with MMAO showed narrower molecular polydispersity than the corresponding polyethylenes with MAO.

A series of 2,4-bis(6-iminopyridin-2-yl)-3H-benzazepines and the mono- or bimetallic (Fe2+ or Co2+) complexes thereof were synthesized and characterized. All title complexes, when activated by MAO or MMAO, exhibited high activities of up to 4.0 x 10(7) g (mol of Fe)(-1) h(-1) for ethylene oligomerization and polymerization. The iron(II) precatalysts generally showed higher activities and produced a wider distribution of products (including oligomers and polyethylene) than did their corresponding cobalt(II) analogues. The bimetallic precatalysts exhibited higher (almost twice) activities in comparison to their monometallic analogues The distribution of the resulting oligomers closely resembled the Schultz-Flory rule.

A series of 2-(2-benzhydrylnaphthyliminomethyl)pyridine derivatives (L1-L3) was prepared and used to synthesize the corresponding bis-ligated nickel(II) halide complexes (Ni1-Ni6) in good yield. The molecular structures of representative complexes, namely the bromide Ni3 and the chloride complex Ni6, were confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction, and revealed a distorted octahedral geometry at nickel. Upon activation with either methylaluminoxane (MAO) or modified methylaluminoxane (MMAO), all nickel complex pre-catalysts exhibited high activities (up to 2.02 × 10(7) g(PE) mol(-1)(Ni) h(-1)) towards ethylene polymerization, producing branched polyethylene of low molecular weight and narrow polydispersity. The influence of the reaction parameters and the nature of the ligands on the catalytic behavior of the title nickel complexes were investigated.

A series of 2-(1-(2-benzhydrylnaphthylimino)ethyl)pyridine derivatives (L1-L3) was synthesized and fully characterized. The organic compounds acted as bi-dentate ligands on reacting with nickel halides to afford two kinds of nickel complexes, either mononuclear bis-ligated L2NiBr2 (Ni1-Ni3) or chloro-bridged dinuclear L2Ni2Cl4 (Ni4-Ni6) complexes. The nickel complexes were fully characterized, and the single crystal X-ray diffraction revealed for Ni2, a distorted square pyramidal geometry at nickel comprising four nitrogens of two ligands and one bromide; whereas for Ni4, a centrosymmetric dimer possessing a distorted octahedral geometry at nickel was formed by two nitrogens of one ligand, two bridging chlorides and one terminal chloride along with oxygen from methanol (solvent). When activated with diethylaluminium chloride (Et2AlCl), all nickel complexes performed with high activities (up to 1.22 × 10(7) g (PE) mol(-1) (Ni) h(-1)) towards ethylene polymerization; the obtained polyethylene possessed high branching, low molecular weight and narrow polydispersity, suggestive of a single-site active species. The effect of the polymerization parameters, including the nature of the ligands/halides on the catalytic performance is discussed.

An entry from the Cambridge Structural Database, the world’s repository for small molecule crystal structures. The entry contains experimental data from a crystal diffraction study. The deposited dataset for this entry is freely available from the CCDC and typically includes 3D coordinates, cell parameters, space group, experimental conditions and quality measures.

A series of N,N'-bis(1-(6-(1-(arylimino)ethyl)pyridin-2-yl)ethylidene)benzidines and the bi-metallic iron complexes thereof have been synthesized and fully characterized. All iron complexes, when activated by MAO or MMAO, exhibited high activities of up to 1.3 x 10(7) g mol(-1) (Fe) h(-1) for the polymerization of ethylene. On comparison with their mononuclear counterparts, such bi-metallic complexes not only retain a relatively high activity at elevated temperatures (up to 70 degrees C), but also exhibit increased lifetimes. The polyethylenes obtained were characterized by GPC, DSC and high temperature NMR spectroscopy, which indicated multimodal and highly linear features.