Synthesis, structures and ethylene polymerization activity of chromium(III) complexes with N,O,N′-tridentate ligands

This paper reports the synthesis and characterization of four neutral chromium(III) complexes bearing N,O,N′-tridentate ligands, [LCrCl3], (L = 2-[(2-pyridylmethoxy)methyl]pyridine, 1; L = 8-(2-pyridylmethoxy)quinoline, 2; L = 8-[(2-pyridylmethoxy)methyl]quinoline, 3; L = 8-(quinolin-8-ylmethoxy)quinoline, 4). Molecular structures of 1–3 have been determined by X-ray crystallography, which show that L1 and L3 exhibit facial configuration in 1 and 3 while L2 adopts meridional arrangement in 2. The ethylene polymerization experiments show that complexes 1–4 are moderately active precatalysts for ethylene polymerization with activation with MAO.