New Single-Site Palladium Catalysts for the Nonalternating Copolymerization of Ethylene and Carbon Monoxide

The synthesis and first examples of structurally characterized, single-site palladium complexes containing a phosphine sulfonate chelate (PSO) for the nonalternating copolymerization of ethylene and carbon monoxide are reported. Extra incorporation of ethylene up to 30% has been achieved relative to the alternating polyketone structure with modest activities. As exemplarily shown, high molecular weight random copolymers have been produced with Mw ≈ 370 000, polydispersity (Mw/Mn) = 2, and melting points of 220−230 °C.