Alternating and random copolymerization of isoprene and ethylene catalyzed by cationic half-sandwich scandium alkyls

Xiaofang Li, Masayoshi Nishiura, Lihong Hu, Kyouichi Mori, Zhaomin Hou*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

190 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The acid-base reactions between the scandium trialkyl complex Sc(CH 2SiMe3)3(THF)2 and 1 equiv of Cp′-H afforded straightforwardly the corresponding mono(cyclopentadienyl) scandium dialkyl complexes Cp′Sc(CH2SiMe3) 2(THF) (Cp′ = C5H5 (1), C 5MeH4 (2), C5Me4H (3), C 5Me5 (4), C5Me4SiMe3 (5)) in 65-80% isolated yields. The analogous half-sandwich complexes having a heteroatom-containing side arm, (C5Me4R)Sc(CH 2SiMe3)2 (R = CH2CH 2PPh2 (6), C6H4OMe-o (7)), were obtained by the one-pot metathetical reactions of ScCl3(THF) 3 with 1 equiv of the potassium salts of the ligands and 2 equiv of LiCH2SiMe3. The similar reactions of ScCl 3(THF)3 with KC5Me4(C 6H4NMe2-o) and LiCH2SiMe3 gave a methylene-bridged binuclear complex [{C5Me 4(o-C6H4N(Me)CH2-μ}Sc(CH 2SiMe3)]2 (8). Complexes 1-8 were fully characterized by 1H, 13C NMR, X-ray, and microelemental analyses. The reactions of 5 and 7 with 1 equiv of [PhMe2NH][B(C 6F5)4] in THF afforded quantitatively the structurally characterizable cationic monoalkyl complexes [(C5Me 4SiMe3)Sc(CH2SiMe3)(THF) 2][B(C6)4] (10) and [(C5Me 4C6H4OMe-o)Sc(CH2SiMe 3)(THF)2][B(C6F5)4] (11), respectively. In the presence of an activator such as [Ph3C] [B(C6F5)4], [PhMe2NH][B(C 6F5)4], or B(C6F5)3, all of the half-sandwich dialkyl complexes 1-7 were active for isoprene polymerization and isoprene-ethylene copolymerization, with the activity and selectivity being significantly dependent on the substituents at the cyclopentadienyl ligands to yield the corresponding homo- and copolymer materials with different microstructures and compositions. In the homopolymerization of isoprene, the less sterically demanding complexes 1 and 2 showed high cis-1,4 selectivity (up to 95%), whereas the more sterically demanding complexes 3-5 yielded 3,4-polyisoprene (51-65%) as a major product. The ether side arm coordinated complex 7 preferred trans-1,4-polyisoprene formation (60-79%), whereas the phosphine analogue 6 showed high cis-1,4 selectivity (84-90%) under the same conditions. In the copolymerization of isoprene and ethylene, complexes 1 and 2 afforded the random copolymers with high isoprene contents (85-92 mol %) and predominant cis-1,4-microstructures (up to 90%), thus constituting the first example of cis-1,4-selective copolymerization of isoprene with ethylene. In contrast, the copolymerization of isoprene and ethylene by 3, 4, 6, and 7 gave, for the first time, almost perfect alternating isoprene-ethylene copolymers. Possible mechanisms of the polymerization and copolymerization processes were proposed on the basis of the DFT calculations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)13870-13882
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society
Volume131
Issue number38
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2009

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