Aluminum bisphenoxides: Promising challengers for a catalyzed copolymerization of cyclohexene oxide with CO2

Reacting triethyl aluminum and diethyl aluminum chloride with the chelating bisphenol ligands mdtbpH2 and mmcpH2 [mmcpH2: 2,2ʹmethylenebis(4-methyl-6-(1-methyl-cyclohexyl)phenol); mdtbpH2: 2,2ʹ-methylenebis(4,6-di-tert-butyl-phenol)] afforded monomeric and dimeric aluminum bisphenoxides with reactive Al-Cl and Al-C2H5 moieties. We present here the X-ray structure determination of some of the isolated compounds as well as the preliminary catalytic tests in copolymerization reactions with cyclohexene oxide and carbon dioxide.