The side-arm-effect controlled stereodivergent polymerization of 1-butene

Abstract

The stereocontrolled synthesis of poly(1-butene) has been established using metallocene catalysts in the field of homogeneous catalysis. However, there are few reports on the efficient and controllable polymerization of 1-butene using non-metallocene catalysts, possibly due to the limited strategies for generating stereospecific active species specifically for high-carbon α-olefins. In this study, a series of novel tridentate [O⁻NX] titanium complexes were designed and used to synthesize poly(1-butene) materials with high activity (up to 3.41 × 10⁶ g mol⁻¹ h⁻¹), ranging from atactic to isotactic (up to 91% mmmm). The physical properties of the obtained poly(1-butene) materials were highly correlated with their isotacticity, and highly isotactic poly(1-butene) possessed good toughness.