Polymerization of methyl methacrylate catalyzed by nickel complexes with hydroxyindanone-imine ligands

Dalton Trans. 2007 Sep 14:(34):3840-6. doi: 10.1039/b708048d. Epub 2007 Aug 2.

Abstract

A series of new hydroxyindanone-imine ligands [PhN=CC2H3(CH3)C6H2(CH3)OH] (HL1) and [ArN=CC2H3(CH3)C6H2(R)OH] (Ar = 2,6-i-Pr(2)C(6)H(3), R = Me (HL2), R = H (HL3), and R = Cl (HL4)) were synthesized and characterized. Reactions of hydroxyindanone-imines with Ni(OAc)(2).4H(2)O result in the formation of the trinuclear hexa(indanone-iminato)tri(nickel(II)) complex Ni(3)[PhN=CC2H3(CH3)C6H2(CH3)O](6) (1) and the mononuclear bis(indanone-iminato)nickel(II) complexes Ni[ArN=CC2H3(CH3)C6H2(R)O](2) (Ar = 2,6-i-Pr(2)C(6)H(3), R = Me (2), R = H (3), and R = Cl (4)). All nickel complexes were characterized by their IR, NMR spectra and elemental analyses. In addition, X-ray structure analyses were performed for complexes 1 and 2. After being activated with methylaluminoxane (MAO), these nickel(II) complexes can be used as catalysts for the polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) to produce syndiotactic-rich PMMA. Catalytic activities and the degree of syndiotacticity of PMMA have been investigated for various reaction conditions.