Nickel complexes polymerization

Polymerization of alkynes by Ni" complexes produces a variety of products which depend on conditions and especially on the particular nickel complex used. If, for instance, O-donor ligands such as acetylacetone or salicaldehyde are employed in a solvent such as tetrahydrofuran or dioxan, 4 coordination sites are available and cyclotetramerization occurs to give mainly cyclo-octatetraene (cot). If a less-labile ligand such as PPhj is incorporated, the coordination sites required for tetramerization are not available and cyclic trimerization to benzene predominates (Fig. A). These syntheses are amenable to extensive variation and adaptation. Substituted ring systems can be obtained from the appropriately substituted alkynes while linear polymers can also be produced. 

Nickel complexes (156-159) used as ATRP catalysts for polymerization of (meth)acrylates are shown in Table 9.8. 

In the reaction of Ni(CNBu )4 and methyl iodide oligomerization of the isocyanide was observed the only isolable nickel complex was (I), shown below. This product is believed to arise through sequential insertions of three isocyanides into a nickel-carbon bond. Upon further treatment with additional isocyanide at a temperature greater than 60° C one obtains a polymer (RNC) presumably through multiple isocyanide insertion reactions. The addition of benzoyl chloride to Ni(CNBu )4 gave two isolable compounds Ni(CNBu )3(COPh)Cl (74%) and (II) (8.2%). This latter reaction, and the isolation of (II) in particular, suggests that the proposed mechanism for polymerization of isocyanides is reasonable. 

Mention was made earlier about insertion reactions into nickel alkyl bonds 108, 164), and about polymerizations of oleiins by isocyanide nickel complexes 31,174). 

Into a Schlenk tube was placed Auf 1,5-cyclooctadiene)-nickeI(0) (2.6 mmol), 2,2 -bipyridyl (2.6mmol), 1,5-cyclooctadiene (0.2ml), DMF (4ml), and toluene (8 ml). The reaction mixture was heated to 80°C for 0.5 h under argon. The dibromide comonomers 623 and 634 dissolved in degassed toluene (8 ml molar ratio of dibromides to nickel complex 0.65) were added under argon to the DMF-toluene solution and the polymerization maintained at 80°C for 3 days in the dark. 2-Bromofluorene (molar ratio of dibromides to monobromide 0.1) dissolved in degassed toluene (1ml) was added and the reaction continued for 12 h. The polymers were precipitated by addition of the hot solution dropwise to an equivolume mixture of concentrated HC1, methanol, and acetone. The isolated polymers were then dissolved in toluene or dichlor-omethane and reprecipitated with methanol/acetone (1 1). The copolymers were dried at 80°C in vacuo. The isolated yields of copolymers 240a-c were 79-85%. 

Polymeric dithiophosphonate complexes of the type (80) have been prepared. The cobalt complex is tetrahedral and the nickel complex planar and both... 

The ability of nickel complexes, e.g., nickel carbonyl and its phosphine derivatives, to catalyze polymerization and other reactions of olefins and acetylenes has been studied extensively (46, 53), particularly by Reppe. 

Transition metal hydroxyoxime complexes have been reviewed very recently.2507 Their use in both analytical chemistry and extraction metallurgy is well known. The square planar structure of the bis chelate complex NiL (347) with the deprotonated 2-hydroxybenzaldoxime (HL) is typical of this series of nickel complexes.2508 Their bis adducts, NiLJ, with bases such as py, substituted pyridines and cyclomethyleneimines, are six-coordinate.2509 The acyl oxime (H2L) complexes are similar to the aforementioned complexes being either square planar bis chelates Ni(HL)2 (348) or octahedral bis adducts, Ni(HL)2B2.2507 When the acyl oxime acts as a dibasic ligand L, the corresponding (NiL) complexes are insoluble and involve extensive polymerization. 

A minor change in the nature of the ligands sometimes produces a great change in the nature of a complex. Thus, if R" is —(CH2)2— in the branched quadridentate ligand (6), the nickel complex is a dimer in which each half is planar and diamagnetic, but if R" is —(CH2)3— the complex is polymeric and paramagnetic each nickel atom is at the center of a tetrahedron.23... 

One of the most interesting alternatives to the Shirakawa catalyst has been the systems disclosed by Luttinger 22-23) and later elaborated by Lieser et al. 24). The tris(2-cyanoethyl)phosphine complex of nickel chloride reacts with sodium boro-hydride to produce a catalyst system capable of polymerizing acetylene in solutions in either alcohol or, quite remarkably, water. A more efficient catalyst is obtained by replacing the nickel complex with cobalt nitrate. Interest in Luttinger polyacetylene seems to have waned in the last few years. 

The remaining polymerization route involves zero-valent nickel complexes and dihalide monomers. Variations of this route most often arise where different sources or regeneration methods of the active nickel species are utilized [82,199, 200-204]. A typical example is shown below in Scheme 51 in which poly(3-phe-nylthiophene) 50 is synthesized from the parent 2,5-dichlorothiophene. As with the Ullmann reaction, polymerization appears to be most compatible with ring systems containing electron-withdrawing substituents. 

The adoption of reaction models available for the polymerization of conjugated dienes by Ni- and Ti-catalysts to the polymerization of BD by Nd catalysis is justified by the similarities of the respective metal carbon bonds. In each of these mechanistic models the last inserted monomer is bound to the metal in a 3-allyl mode. The existence of Ni- -allyl-moieties was demonstrated by the reaction of the deuterated nickel complex [ rf- C4D6H)NiI]2 with deuter-ated BD (deuterated in the 1- and 4-position). After each monomer insertion a new 3-allyl-bond is formed [629]. As TT-allyl-complexes are known for Ti and Ni this knowledge has been adopted for Nd-based polymerization catalysts [288,289,293,308,309,630-636,638-645]. 

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