Ethylene Oligomerization and Polymerization: Alternative Iron Catalysts beyond 2,6-Bisiminopyridyl I

1Introduction Polyolefin industry arrives the option to transfer from multiple-site systems of the classical Ziegler-Natta catalysts to more sophisticated single-site catalysts. The late-transition metal compounds were traditionally assumed with poor polymerization properties due to the highly competitive chain-termination step, and produced the short-chain oligomers up to 40 carbon atoms (SHOP catalysts). Recently the polyolefins employing latetransition metal complexes as catalysts became a hot research subject with the pioneering works by Brookhart and Gibson. It is promising for nickel catalysts to use solely ethylene as monomer for highly branched polyethylenes, and the designed nickel catalysts were not useful in industry. It is critical time to investigate the relationship of coordination modes of nickel complexes and its catalytic activities and the properties of resultant polyethylenes.