Titanium ketimide complexes as α-olefin homo- and copolymerisation catalysts. X-ray diffraction structures of [TiCp′(NCtBu2)Cl2] (Cp′=Ind, Cp*)

The synthesis of [TiInd(NCtBu2)Cl2] and the applications of [TiCp′(NCtBu2)Cl2] (Cp′=Ind, Cp*, Cp) as ethylene and propylene homopolymerisation catalysts, as well as its behaviour as catalysts of ethylene and 10-undecen-1-ol copolymerisation are described. The optimisation of the catalytic reactions showed that all compounds are very active homopolymerisation catalysts, particularly [TiInd(NCtBu2)Cl2] that gives 123.37 × 106 g/(molTi [E] h) and 50.77 × 106 g/(molTi [P] h) of linear polyethylene and atatic polypropylene, respectively. The less active homopolymerisation catalyst, [TiCp(NCtBu2)Cl2], is the most effective ethylene/10-undecen-1-ol copolymerisation catalyst, leading to the highest degree of polar monomer incorporation. The polymers obtained were characterised by NMR and DSC. The molecular structures of [TiCp′(NCtBu2)Cl2] (Cp′=Ind, Cp*) were determined by X-ray diffraction studies.