Cossee mechanism, initiation

Calculation has shown that the most stable configuration of the initial catalyst is not the octahedral complex having a vacant site, as the Cossee mechanism proposes, but rather, a trigonal-bipyramidal complex which is 1.43 eV lower in energy. This complex has an unpaired electron strongly localized in the highest stable orbital d i), which interacts with the titanium-alkyl bond. 

The debate on the mechanism of polymerization, whether an insertion mechanism (Cossee-Arlman) [6], or a metathesis-type mechanism initiated by a-H elimination from the alkyl complex to give a hydrido-carbene intermediate (Green-Rooney) [108], was solved in favor of the former on the basis of the absence of isotope effect on the rates of insertion, and on the stereochemistry of alkene intramolecular insertion, when a-D alkyls were used in the cyclizafion reaction shown in Eq. 6.21 [109]. 

The most commonly accepted mechanism for polymer chain growth on a transition metal catalyst is the very simple migratory insertion mechanism, initially proposed by Piet Cossee (Royal Shell labs) in 1964 and shown in Figure 17. 

The basic mechanism of propylene polymerization is the same as that of ethylene polymerization. Here also the cocatalyst initiates polymerization by chain transfer reactions, which are then followed by propagation steps according to the Cossee mechanism. Finally, chain terminations occur either by j3-elimination or by deliberate addition of hydrogen. 

Various mechanisms have been proposed to explain the stereoselectivity of Ziegler-Natta initiators [Boor, 1979 Carrick, 1973 Corradini et al., 1989 Cossee, 1967 Ketley, 1967a,b Tait and Watkins, 1989 Zambelli and Tosi, 1974]. Most mechanisms contain considerable details that distinguish them from each other but usually cannot be verified. In this section the mechanistic features of Ziegler-Natta polymerizations are considered with emphasis on those features that hold for most initiator systems. The major interest will be on the titanium-aluminum systems for isoselective polymerization, more specifically, TiCl3 with A1(C2H5)2C1 and TiCLt with A1(C2H5)3—probably the most widely studied systems, and certainly the most important systems for industrial polymerizations. 

The Cossee-Arlman mechanism as originally proposed has a weakness—the back-flip is required to explain isoselective placement since the two active (coordination) sites are assumed to be enantiotopic. However, the structure of the traditional Ziegler-Natta heterogeneous initiators is not sufficently understood to either support or reject the assumption of enantiotopic sites. Further, even if the sites are enantiotopic, there is no overwhelming reason why the polymer chain is more stable at one site than the other—which is the rationale for the back-flip. The mechanism of isoselectivity with various metallocene initiators is much better understood since these are initiators whose molecular structures are well-established [Busico and Cipullo, 2001 Busico et al., 1997, 1999 Cavallo et al., 1998 Ewen, 1999 Rappe et al., 2000 Resconi et al., 2000], Considerable advancements in understanding heterogeneous Ziegler-Natta initiators occur if one assumes that the active sites in these initiators mimic those in metallocene initiators. Two types of metallocene initiators offer possible models... 

Many questions remain about the initiation, propagation, and termination steps of the ethene polymerization mechanism. The most important models proposed to date are the Cossee model, which requires a vacant coordination site on the metal center in the position adjacent to the growing alkyl chain, where ethene is coordinated before insertion into the chain (628), and the Green-Rooney model, which requires the presence of a metal-carbene species and a vacant site where ethene is coordinated prior to insertion (629). 

The monometallic mechanism of Cossee and Arlman [10] for Ziegler-Natta polymerization has found favor in the literature because it is based upon quantum mechanical considerations rather than on agreement with the kinetic data [5]. According to this mechanism, as described earlier and shown in Figs. 9.3 and 9.4, the initiation process involves interaction of aluminum alkyl with an octahedral ligand vacancy around Ti which results... 

Figure 5.9 outlines the steps for the chain polyaddition mechanism involved in the coordination polymerizations for any kind of active species initiated through different cocatalysts. The counteranion species was suppressed for practical representation of the active site. Once the cationic species is created, it starts the growth of the polymeric chain through continuous addition of monomer. The propagation step is forward described in Figure 5.9 according to the most accepted reaction cycle proposed by Cossee and Arlman, which is known as the Cossee-Arlman mechanism [51]. 

It might be interesting to note that the proponents of the carbene mechanism (mentioned earlier), point out that this is also consistent with their mechanism [254, 255], The reaction can consist of (a) an insertion of a metal into an a-CH bond of a metal alkyl to form a metal-carbene hydride complex. This is followed by (b) reaction of the metal-carbene unit with an alkene to form a metal-cyclobutane-hydride intermediate. The final step (c), is a reductive elimination of hydride and alkyl groups to produce a chain-lengthened metal alkyls. This assures that a chiral metal environment is maintained [254]. It is generally believed [258], however, that stereospecific propagation comes from concerted, multicentered reactions, as was shown in the Cossee-Arlman mechanism. The initiator is coordinated... 

Lohrenz et al. reported [296] quantum mechanical calculations on model systems [297] support the Cossee-Arleman mechanism. Insertion of ethylene into Cp2Zr -Me is preceded by an initial olefin complexation with the vacant coordination site and formation of tt-complex 1 as shown below ... 

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