Bis(arylimino)pyridine derivatives of Group 4 metals: preparation, characterization and activity in ethylene polymerization.

Titanium tetrachloride reacts with 2,6-bis[(1-phenylimino)ethyl]pyridine, 1, and 2,6-bis[1-(2,6-diisopropylphenylimino)ethyl]pyridine, 2, giving the adducts of general formulae [Ti1Cl3]Cl, 3, and [Ti2Cl3]Cl, 6, the latter through the intermediacy of the covalently bonded [Ti2Cl4], 4. Heating 6 leads to reduction to the titanium(III) derivative [Ti2Cl3], 12, the latter characterized by X-ray diffraction methods. The reaction of [Ti1Cl3]Cl with a toluene solution of MAO proceeds with methylation at the ortho-position of the pyridine ring to give the titanium(iv) derivative [Ti(C22H21N3)Cl3], 8. The reaction of [Ti2Cl3]Cl with MAO gives a mixture of products containing [Ti2Cl2(OAlCl3)], 9. Compound 9, which has been prepared independently by reacting 6 with AlOCl, is a rare case of a compound containing the -OAlCl3 moiety, as shown by a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study. From the tetrachlorides of zirconium and hafnium with 1 or 2, the corresponding adducts [M(L)Cl4] have been obtained in high yields. These derivatives of Group 4 metals act as ethylene polymerization catalytic precursors: the substitution of the phenyl ring of the imino fragment strongly influences the catalytic activity which is 5,544 kg(PE) mol(Ti)(-1) h(-1) in the case of 3 and 267 kg(PE) mol(Ti)(-1) h(-1) with 6. Catalytic activity has been observed for zirconium and hafnium too, the activity decreasing from zirconium to hafnium, under comparable conditions.