Polymerization of hex-1-ene initiated by diimine complexes of nickel and palladium

Abstract

The effect of monomer concentration, reaction temperature and initiator structure on the activity, molar mass, branching and thermal properties of poly(hex-1-ene)s was investigated for the polymerization of hex-1-ene initiated by four alpha-diimine complexes of nickel and palladium. Hex-1-ene polymerization exhibits an apparent negative kinetic order with respect to monomer concentration. Polymerization of hex-1-ene initiated by MAO activated 1,4-bis(2, 6-diisopropylphenyl)acenaphtenediiminenickel(II) dibromide (1a/MAO) proceeds in living-like fashion not only at sub-zero temperatures but even at 20degreesC. However, molar masses of the polymers are higher than predicted values in agreement with an initiator efficiency lower than one