Iminopyridine nickel catalysts are typically gave low molecular weight PE. Upon activation with MAO, the prepared nickel complexes exhibited significantly high molecular weights PE of 56–182 kg mol−1 with narrower dispersity of 1.5–1.8.
In the present study, with the incorporation of 2,4,6-tris(5-dibenzosuberyl)aniline, a new family of “sandwich” type unsymmetrical α-diimine-nickel precatalysts was prepared for the synthesis of plastomeric to elastomeric polyethylene.
A one-pot easy-to-operate method for the construction of diverse sulfonyl dibenzosuberdiones is developed via In(OTf)3-promoted tandem double Friedel–Crafts reactions of oxygenated arylacetic acids with β-arylvinyl sulfones.
This work represents the first instance of employing Ni(II) iminopyridyl catalysts for the production of polyolefin elastomers suitable for high-MFI photovoltaic encapsulant film materials.
This work demonstrates that judicious ligand design—balancing steric protection and flexibility—can simultaneously optimize molecular weight, branching control, and MA incorporation in late-transition-metal-catalyzed olefin polymerization.