Effect of inorganic oxide supports on the activity of chromium‐based catalysts in ethylene trimerization

Novel heterogeneous catalysts were prepared using immobilization of bis(2‐decylsulfanylethyl)amine–CrCl₃ (Cr‐SNS‐D) on various supports, namely commercial TiO₂, Al₂O₃ and magnetic Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ nanoparticles, to yield solid catalysts denoted as support@Cr‐SNS‐D. The structure of the catalysts was confirmed on the basis of spectroscopic analyses, N₂ adsorption–desorption and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis. The surface areas of Al₂O₃@Cr‐SNS‐D, Fe₃O₄@SiO₂@Cr‐SNS‐D and TiO₂@Cr‐SNS‐D catalysts were determined to be 70, 23 and 41 m² g^?1, respectively. A decrease in surface area from that of the supports clearly establishes accurate immobilization of Cr‐SNS‐D catalyst on the surface of the parent carriers. The loading of Cr was determined to be 0.02, 0.16 and 0.11 mmol g^?1 for Cr‐SNS‐D supported on TiO₂, Al₂O₃ and Fe₃O₄@SiO₂, respectively, using ICP analysis. After preparation and full characterization of the catalysts, ethylene trimerization reaction was accomplished in 40 ml of dry toluene, at 80°C and 25 bar ethylene pressure and in the presence of methylaluminoxane (Al/Cr = 700) within 30 min. The supported chromium catalysts were found to be efficient and selective for the ethylene trimerization reaction. The highest activity (74 650 g_1‐hexene g_Cr^?1 h^?1), as well as no polyethylene formation during reaction processes, was observed when TiO₂ was used as the catalyst support.     

Optimization of ethylene trimerization using catalysts based on TiCl3/half‐sandwich ligands

Catalytic trimerization of ethylene using three titanium‐based complexes [η⁵‐C₉H₆C(R)thienyl]TiCl₃ with various types of bridges (R = cyclo‐C₅H₁₀ ( C1 ), cyclo‐C₄H₈ ( C2 ) and (CH₃)₂ ( C3 )) has been successfully optimized and compared. First of all, three benzofulvene precursors, C₉H₆C(R), were synthesized. Then the corresponding indenyl‐based ligands were obtained via the reaction of the precursors with thienyllithium. The final titanium‐based catalysts display a distorted tetrahedral geometry, as expected for Ti(IV), with the ligand coordinated with a hemilabile behaviour. The structures of the compounds were confirmed on the basis of various analyses. The effect of catalyst concentration, ethylene pressure, reaction temperature and nature of the bridge as the significant factor affecting coordination and orientation of thienyl group relative to the metal centre on 1‐hexene (1‐C₆) productivity and selectivity was investigated. Results revealed that the bulky bridge groups such as cyclo‐C₅H₁₀ and cyclo‐C₄H₈ are appropriate for ethylene trimerization due to the closer coordination of sulfur atom with Ti, especially in cationic state, and catalyst C2 with cyclo‐C₄H₈ bridge exhibits moderate productivity equal to 785 kg 1‐C₆ (mol Ti)^?1 h^?1. According to the results, ethylene at a pressure of 10 bar, 50°C and 1.5 μmol of catalyst were selected as the best conditions for obtaining 1‐C₆ with high productivity and selectivity. The presence of indenyl enhances the thermal stability of the catalysts and preserves their activity in higher temperatures such as 50 and 80°C.     

A convenient and economic method for the synthesis of monohydroxy-pentaalkoxy- and hexaalkoxytriphenylene discotics

A one-step process for the preparation of mono-functionalized triphenylene discotics is presented. Oxidative trimerization of ortho-dialkoxybenzenes using FeCl₃ in nitromethane and a catalytic amount of various acids, furnished monohydroxy-pentaalkoxytriphenylene in addition to hexaalkoxytriphenylene. These products can be easily separated by column chromatography over aluminium oxide.     

Quantum-chemical study of possible structural transformations in 3-methylthio-3-phenyl-2-propenethial

The plausible formation of 3-methylthio-1-phenyl-2-propene-1-thione and 3-methylthio-3-phenyl-2-propenethial in the reaction of 3-methylthio-3-phenyl-2-propene-1-N,N-dimethyliminium iodide with hydrogen sulfide was shown in the framework of semiempirical AM1 and PM3 methods. In polar media, these products can be trimerized into four types of structures. The kind of trimer depends on the shift of the equilibrium in the 3-methylthio-3-phenyl-2-propenethial ⇄ 3-methylthio-1-phenyl-2-propene-1-thione mixture. Each of the four types of trimers is characterized by the presence of three nearly planar sixmembered pseudo-chelate rings. The possibility of obtaining derivatives of 1,2-dithiolane (the basic fragment of lipoic acid) from the reaction products in nonpolar solvents was considered. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 7, pp. 1273–1277, July, 1997.     

Kinetic Modeling from Early Product Development to Polymerization Process Optimization

Summary: This contribution illustrates how kinetic modeling supports early product development stages under industrial constraints also for smaller scale products. Diisocyanate oligomerization is selected as an example. Data for model parameterization and validation are acquired in kinetic experiments with on-line IR monitoring. Based on these measured data and a proposed reaction scheme for the cyclo-oligomerization of diisocyanates with equal reactivity of both isocyanate groups, two kinetic models differing in level of detail are developed. All experimental trends are described correctly with these kinetic models. A functional group based model is used for parameterization and prediction of conversion profiles. This model version is also applied for assessing working hypotheses on the details of the catalytic cycle and for developing strategies for catalyst and process optimization. A second model takes into account full molecular weight distribution and thus enables prediction of individual oligomer concentrations. Fast assessment of process alternatives is possible with both models.     

Umsetzungen des Tetrakis[bis(trimethylsilyl)methyl]dialans(4) mit Methylisothiocyanat und Phenylisocyanat – Insertion in die Al?Al-Bindung bzw. Fragmentierung

Reactions of Tetrakis[bis(trimethylsilyl)methyl]dialane(4) with Methylisothiocyanate and Phenylisocyanate – Insertion into the Al? Al Bond and Fragmentation Tetrakis[bis(trimethylsilyl)methyl]dialane(4) 1 reacts with methyl isothiocyanate under cleavage of the C?S double bond and insertion of the remaining isonitrile fragment into the Al? Al bond. As shown by crystal structure determination a three-membered AlCN heterocycle ( 4 ) is formed by the interaction of the nitrogen lone pair with one unsaturated Al atom leading to an acute angle at the aluminium center N? Al? C of 36.6°. In contrast the reaction with the hard base phenyl isocyanate yields a mixture of many unknown compounds, from which only one ( 5 ) could be isolated in a very poor yield. The crystal structure of 5 reveals only one dialkyl aluminium fragment and a chelating ligand formed by the trimerization of the isocyanate under loss of one CO group and addition of a hydrogen atom. 5 was also synthesized by the specific reaction of the chloro dialkyl aluminium compound (R = CH(SiMe₃)₂) with Li[H₅C₆? N?C(O)? N(C₆H₅)? C(O)? N(H)? C₆H₅].     

Catalytic Trimerization of Ethylene with Highly Active Half-sandwich Titanium Complexes Bearing Pendant p-Fluorophenyl Groups

Two new complexes[η~5-C_5H_4CMe_2-(p-fluorophenyl)]TiCl_3(1)and[μ~5-C_5H_4C(cyclo-C_5H_(10))-(p-fluoro-phenyl)]TiCl_3(2)were synthesized and characterized.Their activities and selectivities for trimerization of ethylenewere investigated.The introduction of fluorine atom greatly weakened the arene coordination,but this disadvanta-geous factor can be eliminated by introduction of a bulky substituent,such as cyclo-C_5H_(10),to the bridging carbonlinked to the Cp ring.The combinative effect of the fluorine substitute and the bridging unit can make complex 2 asa highly active and selective catalyst for ethylene trimerization.Its productivity and selectivity for 1-hexene canreach 1024.0 kg·mol~(-1)·h(-1) and 99.3% respectively.     

Microporous polymers based on triacetylarenes

Three-dimensional polymers are synthesized by polycondensation of triacetylarenes with the formation of 1,3,5-phentriyl and dimeric diphenylpropenone fragments. Microporous polyphenylenes with an intrinsic surface area of 650–690 m² g^–1 were obtained by additional heating at 450 °C. The values of the intrinsic surface area of polyphenylenes with rigid-chain rod-shaped inter-nodal fragments significantly exceed those of polyphenylenes with a flexible-chain inter-nodal fragments.     

Microporous polyphenylenes based on diacetylaromatic compounds

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Molecular Mechanism of the Early Stage of Amyloidogenic Hexapeptides(NFGAIL) Aggregation

Peptides/proteins aggregation can give rise to pathological conditions of many human diseases.Small partially ordered oligomers formed in the early stage of aggregation,rather than mature fibrils,are thought to be the main toxicity agent for the living cell.Thus,understanding the pathway and the underlying physical mechanism in the early stage of aggregation is very important for prevention and treatment of these protein functional diseases.Herein we use all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to study the aggregation of four NFGAIL hexapeptides(NFGAIL peptide is a core segment of human islet amyloid polypeptide and exhibits similar aggregation kinetics as the full-length polypeptide).We observe that the peptide monomers in water mainly adopt non-structural coil configurations;the four peptides which are randomly placed in water aggregate spontaneously to partially ordered oligomer(β-sheets)through dimerization or trimerization,with the dimerization predominated.Both parallel and anti-parallelβ-sheets are observed.The hydrophobic interactions drive the initial peptides associations,and the subsequent conformational fluctuations promote the formation of more hydrogen bonds between the dangling hydrogen sites in the main chains of peptides.