Rational Design of High-Performance Phosphine Sulfonate Nickel Catalysts for Ethylene Polymerization and Copolymerization with Polar Monomers

Use of palladium catalysts in olefin polymerization and copolymerization has evolved rapidly. In contrast, earth-abundant and low-cost nickel catalysts generally suffer from drawbacks that include low thermal stability and generation of low-molecular-weight polymers in the presence of polar monomers. By taking advantage of several design strategies, high-performance phosphine-sulfonate-based nickel catalysts were developed. These nickel catalysts demonstrated high activities and thermal stabilities to afford high-molecular-weight polyethylene. Most importantly, high-molecular-weight copolymers could be generated through the copolymerization of ethylene with a variety of polar monomers.