Polymerization Brookhart

Santos, L.S., Metzger, J.O. (2008) On-line Monitoring of Brookhart Polymerization by Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 22 898-904. 

On-Line Screening oTthe Brookhart Polymerization Reaction... 

Ni catalysts for olefin polymerization incorporating a-iminocarboxamide ligands are activated by the formation of borane-carbonyl adducts (153).542 Structure/reactivity relationships are similar to Brookhart s dimine catalysts. 

Several combinatorial approaches to the discovery of transition metal based catalysts for olefin polymerization have been described. In one study Brookhart-type polymer-bound Ni- and Pd-(l,2-diimine) complexes were prepared and used in ethylene polymerization (Scheme 3).60,61 A resin-bound diketone was condensed with 48 commercially available aminoarenes having different steric properties. The library was then split into 48 nickel and 48 palladium complexes by reaction with [NiBr2(dme)] and [PdClMe(COD)], respectively, all 96 pre-catalysts being spatially addressable. 

The Brookhart laboratory has contributed much of the knowledge of the polymerization mechanism for the late transition metal a-diimine catalysts. The review by Ittel provides a concise summary of the mechanistic understanding as of the year 2000 [26]. Some of the early findings will be reviewed here and additional insights reported afterward will be presented. In addition to the experimental work, many theoretical and computational studies worthy of discussion have also been carried out. These efforts have been most important in providing insight into the mechanistic details of the highly reactive nickel system, which is often difficult to study experimentally. 

A syndiospecific chain-end controlled propene polymerization by Brookhart-type136 Ni(II) catalysts at low temperatures, also occurring through a primary... 

Figure 3. Modified Cossee mechanism for the polymerization of olefins with early transition metals. Green, Rooney and Brookhart introduced the presence of the adjuvant a-agostic interaction in the transition state.

Brookhart and coworkers [1] have recently developed Ni(II) and Pd(II) bis-imine based catalysts of the type (ArN=C(R)-C(R)=NAr)M-CH3+ (la of Figure 1) that are promising alternatives to both Ziegler-Natta systems and metallocene catalysts for olefin polymerization. Traditionally, such late metal catalysts are found to produce dimers or extremely low molecular weight oligomers due to the favorability of the P-elimination chain termination process [2],... 

Figure 2. Proposed reaction mechanism for (a) insertion, (b) chain termination and (c) chain branching in the case of the Brookhart Ni-bis-imine polymerization catalyst. Large bulky substituents have been removed for clarity...

Theoretical studies have been carried out on all the late transition metal catalysts la [10-13], lb [14] and lc [15] in Figure 1. It is not the objective here to review all the computational results. We shall instead describe the general mechanistic insight that has been gained from the theoretical studies with the main emphasis on Brookhart s bis-imine catalysts. The experimental work on late transition metal olefin polymerization catalysts has been reviewed recently by Ittel [16] et al. 

Figure 9. Polymerization of propylene (Rq = CH3) by the Pd-bis-imine Brookhart catalysts.

Agostic interactions, i. e., the three-center bonds related to structure 51 [26, 44-49], were noted earlier by Green and Brookhart and have been cited above in the methoxycarbonylation chemistry (Figure 1.9). These bonds are often characterized by low frequency (hydride-like) proton chemical shifts, and/or substantially reduced /( C, H) values. Often, it is necessary to cool the NMR sample in order to freeze the equilibrium. Complex 52 represents a nice example of an agostic C-H bond, with relevance to polymerization chemistry [47]. 

In contrast to the isotope effects observed in d° olefin polymerization catalysts, Brookhart and coworkers [134] have detected an inverse H/ H isotope effect of 0.59 in the Co(iii)-catalyzed polymerization of ethylene. This inverse effect was ascribed to a P-agostic CH bond which is stronger in the ground state than the free C-H bond during or just prior to the insertion step (see Scheme 1.6). 

With a few exceptions, 1,2-disubstituted alkenes are not polymerized because of steric hindrance. The exceptions include 1-deuteropropene (Sec. 8-4g) and cydoalkenes. Polymers are obtained from some 1,2-disubstituted alkenes, but the reactions involve isomerization of the monomer to a 1-alkene prior to polymerization, e.g., 2-butene yields poly( 1-butene) [Endo et al., 1979]. There is one report of polymerization of trans-2-butene to poly( ranv-2-butene) using the a-diimine nickel initiators described in Sec. 8-8b [Leatherman and Brookhart,... 

Ni and Pd initiators polymerize cycloalkenes through the double bond with cis 1,3-place-ment (Sec. 8-6a). The only reported polymerization of an acyclic 2-alkene, specifically trans-2-butene, involves the use of an a-diimine initiator [Leatherman and Brookhart, 2001]. 

In 1996, Brookhart and co-workers developed a remarkable class of Pd complexes with sterically encumbered diimine ligands (Scheme 4, S4-1, S4-2, S4-4, and S4-5). These examples are capable of mediating the co-polymerization of ethylene with methyl acrylate (MA) to furnish highly branched PE with ester groups on the polymer chain ends by a chain-walking mechanism (Scheme 10). " This represents the first example of transition metal-catalyzed ethylene/MA co-polymerization via an insertion mechanism. The mechanism for co-polymerization is by 2,1-insertion of MA and subsequent chelate-ring expansion, followed by the insertion of ethylene units. The discovery of these diimine Pd catalysts has stimulated a resurgence of activity in the area of late transition metal-based molecular catalysis. Recently, the random incorporation of MA into linear PE by Pd-catalyzed insertion polymeriza-... 

Polyolefins with vinyl end groups can be readily transformed into end-functionalized polyolefins by post-polymerization functionalization to yield a wide variety of end-functionalized polyolefins, which include epoxy-, amine-, and hydroxy-terminated polyolefins. Brookhart, Gibson, and co-workers reported on diimine-pyridine-ligated Fe complexes incorporating sterically less hindered alkyl substituents such as a methyl group ortho to the imine-A s, F12-1, that selectively converted ethylene to oligomers, affording linear a-olefin mixtures (>99%) (see also Section... 

---