Development of Improved Amidoquinoline Polyolefin Catalysts with Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Capacity

A new
synthetic route to amidoquinoline olefin polymerization catalysts
has been developed involving significantly less expensive and more
readily available starting materials. The new methodology was used
to prepare N-mesityl-2-methylquinolin-8-amine, which
in turn was converted into trialkyl complexes of Hf, Zr, and Ti. The
new complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, 1D and 2D
NMR spectroscopy, and X-ray crystallography. A batch reactor ethylene/1-octene
copolymerization evaluation at 140 °C showed that the new Hf
congener outperformed a series of previously reported molecular olefin
polymerization catalysts. In particular, the new Hf catalyst exhibits
excellent activity and a remarkable capacity to produce ultrahigh
molecular weight copolymers at elevated reaction temperatures.