Trimethylammonium[tetrakis(pentafluorophenoxy)borate], a safe way to synthesize novel co-catalysts for olefin polymerization

The synthesis and characterization of the novel co-catalyst trimethylammonium[tetrakis(pentafluorophenoxy)borate] (1) is reported. Activation of TIBA alliylated 2,6-bis[1-(2,6-diisopropylphenylimino)ethyl]pyridyl-iron(II) chloride (2) using activator 1 forms an active catalyst system for homogeneous polymerization of ethene. The molecular structure of this new weakly coordinating anion was determined by single-crystal X-ray analysis. The straightforward synthesis of 1 is interesting for possible industrial applications. Polymerization experiments using activator 1 demonstrate higher activities than with the commonly used co-catalyst [HNMe2Ph][B(C6F5)4].