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.