Diolefin-metal complexes

The polymerization of olefins and di-olefins is one of the most important targets in polymer science. This review article describes recent progress in this field and deals with organo-transition metal complexes as polymerization catalysts. Recent developments in organometallic chemistry have prompted us to find a precise description of the mechanism of propagation, chain transfer, and termination steps in the homogeneously metal-assisted polymerization of olefins and diolefins. Thus, this development provides an idea for designing any catalyst systems that are of interest in industry. 

In the case of certain diolefins, the palladium-carbon sigma-bonded complexes can be isolated and the stereochemistry of the addition with a variety of nucleophiles is trans (4, 5, 6). The stereochemistry of the addition-elimination reactions in the case of the monoolefins, because of the instability of the intermediate sigma-bonded complex, is not clear. It has been argued (7, 8, 9) that the chelating diolefins are atypical, and the stereochemical results cannot be extended to monoolefins since approach of an external nucleophile from the cis side presents steric problems. The trans stereochemistry has also been attributed either to the inability of the chelating diolefins to rotate 90° from the position perpendicular to the square plane of the metal complex to a position which would favor cis addition by metal and a ligand attached to it (10), or to the fact that methanol (nucleophile) does not coordinate to the metal prior to addition (11). In the Wacker Process, the kinetics of oxidation of olefins suggest, but do not require, the cis hydroxypalladation of olefins (12,13,14). The acetoxypalladation of a simple monoolefin, cyclohexene, proceeds by trans addition (15, 16). 

Mercury(II) sulfide, red, 1 19 Metal complex compounds with diolefins, 6 216... 

There is one further area in which the properties of olefin-metal complexes and adsorbed olefins show common behavior. The olefin is often readily displaced by diolefins and alkynes many other ligands, including phosphines, amines, nitriles, cyanide ion, and carbon monoxide, can however cause olefin displacement, and these include molecules which are notorious catalyst poisons. Again no quantitative information is available, but a causal connection is strongly suggested. 

Reactions of anionic metal complexes with halide-bridged dimers can also be used to form a bond between two different metal atoms. Reaetion of (/j -C7H7)Fe(CO)3 with Mn2(CO)gBr2 gives ()j -C7H7)MnFe(CO)6 in which the cycloheptatrienyl ligand coordinates as a diolefin to manganese and as an allyl toward iron . 

Displacement of weakly coordinating ligands is also very effective. Common ligands that form weakly stabilized complexes with metals include acetonitrile, ethylene, and other mono- and diolefins. The metal nucleophile may be a metal carbonyl anion, a metal hydride, or a neutral, low-valent metal complex ... 

The most facile syntheses of diolefin complexes are those in which the diolefin reacts with a coordinatively unsaturated metal complex without ligand displacement. Thus a unidentate norbornadiene complex of iron, [Fe(f -Cp)(CO)2( 7 -NBD)][BF4], can be prepared by treating [Fe( j -Cp)(CO)2]2 with xs Ph3C[BFJ, followed by quenching with cycloheptatriene prior to addition of norbornadiene . Tetracoordinate complexes of Ir(I) undergo diolefin addition ... 

Bradshaw proposed that the dismntation of olefins should proceed via a quasicyclobutane intermediate. In this mechanism, the two alkenes would first coordinate to a transition metal, forming a quasicyclobntane (Figure 14.26), after which the metal-complex intermediate would break apart to form the new alkenes. Because formation of the intermediate would involve two alkenes attaching to the metal in pairs, this has been called both the diolefin and pairwise mechanism. 

Of the three isomeric cyclooctadienes, the most interesting and the most studied from the point of view of its metal complexes is the 1,5-isomer. This diolefin, when obtained by dimerizing butadiene, exists principally in the tub conformation with cis-cis double bonds 80, 131,138), and is therefore ideally suited to behave as a chelate ligand. It forms very stable complexes with metals towards the ends of the transition series, especially those whose salts characteristically complex directly with olefins. 

Metallocenes, especially zirconocenes but also titanocenes, hafnocenes, and other transition metal complexes treated with MAO are highly active for the polymerization of olefins, diolefins, and styrene. The polymerization activity, which is up to 100 times higher than for classical Ziegler catalysts, as well as the possibility to easily tailor the microstructure of the polymer chain and to obtain polymers with special properties have motivated research groups worldwide to produce thousands of patents and publications in the last 20 years. An overview can be found in selected review articles and books [55-68]. A metallocene/MAO catalyst containing 1 g zirconium produced 40 x 10 g polyethylene in 1 h at 95°C and 8 bar ethene pressure (Table 1). 

This simple division into polymerization and dimerization catalysts does not apply if the growing chain stabilizes as a jt-allyl—metal complex, as is the case with conjugated diolefins (i ). Certain cobalt complexes, for instance, are perfectly able to polymerize butadiene (19). 

Strained Carbocyclic Systems.—A large number of examples of catalysis of valence isomerization of strained ring compounds by transition-metal complexes has been considered during the period covered by this Report. The most commonly used metal centres are rhodium and silver, and much of the interest in this field is concentrated on determining and accounting for the differences, in effectiveness and in the nature of the products, between rhodium catalysts and silver catalysts. Thus, for instance, in the presence of [RhCl(nor)]2 or [RhCl(cod)]2, cubane (1) isomerizes to the diolefin (2), but in the presence of silver perchlorate cubane isomerizes to cuneane (3). ... 

Significant advances in organonickel chemistry followed the discovery of frtzws,fraws,fraws-(l,5,9-cyclododecatriene)nickel, Ni(cdt), and bis(l,5-cycloocta-diene)nickel Ni(cod)2 by Wilke et. al.1 In these and related compounds, in which only olefinic ligands are bonded to the nickel, the metal is especially reactive both in the synthesis of other compounds and in catalytic behavior. Extension of this chemistry to palladium and to platinum has hitherto been inhibited by the lack of convenient synthetic routes to zero-valent complexes of these metals in which mono- or diolefins are the only ligands. Here we described the synthesis of bis(l,5-cyclooctadiene)platinum, tris(ethylene)-platinum, and bis(ethylene)(tricyclohexylphosphine)platinum. The compound Pt(cod)2 (cod = 1,5-cyclooctadiene) was first reported by Muller and Goser,2 who prepared it by the following reaction sequence ... 

Both conjugated and nonconjugated olefins form complexes with the transition-metal carbonyls. Despite the fact that the first known complex, Zeises salt K(PtC2H4Cl3), discovered in 1827, was that of a simple olefin, complexes of monoolefins are rather limited in number. However, nonconjugated diolefins (L) react with group-VI carbonyls to form complexes of the type LM(CO)4 an example is provided by tetracarbonyl-bicyclo-(2,2, l)hepta-2,5-diene chromium (2) (Fig. 1). In contrast, the iron carbonyls... 

An influence by optically active groups bound to the transition metals on the complexation of the monomers with the same atoms might probably explain also the asymmetric polymerization of diolefins (95). 

Many results obtained with diolefins can be explained in essentially the same way as for those with a-olefins. Nevertheless, there are some differences concerning observations made with T)3-allylnickel complexes and the influence of ligands on the results obtained by using Ziegler-type conditions (64). Some of these systems are far from being true Ziegler-type catalysts. Probably, the structural isomerism of polydienes depends essentially on the specific nature of the metal which forms a complex with the diene involved. 

Coordination polymerisation via re complexes comprises polymerisation and copolymerisation processes with transition metal-based catalysts of unsaturated hydrocarbon monomers such as olefins [11-19], vinylaromatic monomers such as styrene [13, 20, 21], conjugated dienes [22-29], cycloolefins [30-39] and alkynes [39-45]. The coordination polymerisation of olefins concerns mostly ethylene, propylene and higher a-olefins [46], although polymerisation of cumulated diolefins (allenes) [47, 48], isomerisation 2, co-polymerisation of a-olefins [49], isomerisation 1,2-polymerisation of /i-olcfins [50, 51] and cyclopolymerisation of non-conjugated a, eo-diolefins [52, 53] are also included among coordination polymerisations involving re complex formation. 

Copolymerization of styrene with diolefins provides further support that monomer coordinates with the cationic site prior to addition. Korotkov (218) showed that in homopolymerizations styrene is more reactive than butadiene, but in copolymerization the butadiene reacted first at its homopolymerization rate and when it was exhausted the styrene reacted at its homopolymerization rate. This interesting result has been duplicated by Kuntz (245) and analogous results have been obtained by Spirin and coworkers (237) for the styrene-isoprene system. Presumably, the diene complexes more strongly than styrene with the lithium and excludes styrene from the site. That the complex occurs at a cationic site, rather than at the anion or the metal-carbon bond, is indicated by the fact that dienes form more stable complexes than styrene with Lewis acids (246). It should be emphasized that selective monomer coordination is not the only factor influencing reactivities in copolymerizations. Of greatest importance are the relative reactivities of the different polymer anions. The more resonance-stabilized anion is more readily formed and is less reactive for polymerizing the co-monomer. 

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