Ethylene homo- and copolymerization catalyzed by vanadium, zirconium, and titanium complexes having potentially tridentate Schiff base ligands

Abstract New potentially tridentate Schiff base ligands, 2-[({4-[(3-N,N-dimethylamino)propyl] phenyl}imino)methyl]-4,6-di-tert-butylphenol (L1H) and 2-[{2-(N-phenyl-N-methylaminomethyl)-phenylimino}-methyl]-4,6-di-tert-butylophenol (L2H) were prepared and after deprotonation they were reacted with VOCl3 or MCl4 (where M = Zr or Ti) to produce corresponding complexes (L1-V, L2-V, L1-Zr, L2-Ti) with good yields. All new compounds were characterized by the 1H and 13C NMR as well as FTIR spectroscopic methods. Upon activation with Et2AlCl or EtAlCl2, both the vanadium complexes exhibited exceptionally high catalytic activities in the ethylene polymerization (up to 69,000 kg/(molV⋅h) for L1-V an…