Catalytic Performance of Cobalt(II) Polyethylene Catalysts with Sterically Hindered Dibenzopyranyl Substituents Studied by Experimental and MLR Methods

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2022-08, Vol.27 (17), p.5455
• Main Authors: Malik, Arfa Abrar, Meraz, Md Mostakim, Yang, Wenhong, Zhang, Qiuyue, Sage, Desalegn Demise, Sun, Wen-Hua
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amine oxidase (flavin-containing); Catalysts; Catalytic activity; Chlorine; Cobalt; cobalt complexes; Cobalt compounds; dibenzopyranol groups; ethylene polymerization; Ligands; linear polyethylene; Magnetic resonance spectroscopy; Molecular weight; Molecular weight distribution; Nitrogen; NMR; NMR spectroscopy; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Polyethylene; Polyethylenes; Polymerization; β-H elimination
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules27175455

Given the great importance of cobalt catalysts supported by benchmark bis(imino)pyridine in the (oligo)polymerization, a series of dibenzopyran-incorporated symmetrical 2,6-bis(imino) pyridyl cobalt complexes (Co1–Co5) are designed and prepared using a one-pot template approach. The structures of the resulting complexes are well characterized by a number of techniques. After activation with either methylaluminoxane (MAO) or modified MAO (MMAO), the complexes Co1–Co4 are highly active for ethylene polymerization with a maximum activity of up to 7.36 × 106 g (PE) mol−1 (Co) h−1 and produced highly linear polyethylene with narrow molecular weight distributions, while Co5 is completely inactive under the standard conditions. Particularly, complex Co3 affords polyethylene with high molecular weights of 85.02 and 79.85 kg mol−1 in the presence of MAO and MMAO, respectively. The 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy revealed the existence of vinyl end groups in the resulting polyethylene, highlighting the predominant involvement of the β-H elimination reaction in the chain-termination process. To investigate the mechanism underlying the variation of catalytic activities as a function of substituents, multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis was performed, showing the key role of open cone angle (θ) and effective net charge (Q) on catalytic activity.