Kinetic and mechanistic aspects of metallocene polymerisation catalysts

The nature of the counteranion is an essential component of metallocene polymerisation catalysts. Detailed mechanistic investigations show how the anion is able to determine the activity and, in many cases, also the stereoselectivity of the catalyst. This review summarises recent advances in mechanistic understanding of well defined metallocene catalysts based on ion pairs [L₂ZrR⁺ ?X⁻] and describes recent insights in ion mobility and kinetics of alkene polymerisation processes. The interplay of ligand structure and nature of the counteranions demonstrates a fascinating versatility and subtlety that continually challenge our ability to rationalise and predict catalyst performance.     

Titanium ketimide complexes as α-olefin homo- and copolymerisation catalysts. X-ray diffraction structures of [TiCp(NCBu2)Cl2] (Cp=Ind, Cp*)

The synthesis of [TiInd(NC^tBu₂)Cl₂] and the applications of [TiCp^′(NC^tBu₂)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C^tBu₂)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C^tBu₂)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C^tBu₂)Cl₂] (Cp^′=Ind, Cp*) were determined by X-ray diffraction studies.     

Effect of hydrophobic and hydrophilic organic salts on charge transfer polymerisation of styrene

Conventional charge transfer (CT) polymerisation often involves an interaction of a monomer with an electron donor and an acceptor in additives such as Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO). The conventional method suffers from the drawback of poor yields. An attempt has been made in this study to synthesise the polymers by employing different organic salts as an ionisation enhancing additive. The use of a hydrophobic organic salt enhanced the polymer yields significantly and also increased thermal stability. Hydrophilic salts, based on organo-borate anions and quaternary ammonium cations also increased the polymer yields compared to the conventional system.     

Polymerisation and degradation of an aromatic amine-based naphthoxazine

Pyrolysis mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of aromatic amine-based naphthoxazine monomer (15-Na) and Poly15-Na has been carried out. Evaporation and degradation of the monomer are detected during the curing process while the polymerisation proceeded. The polymerisation and degradation mechanisms are proposed for 15-Na and Poly15-Na, respectively. The proposed polymerisation mechanism for naphthoxazine monomer was through the aniline units either by coupling of the radicals generated by cleavage of the side rings or by substitution to the benzene ring of aniline. It has been determined that polymerisation followed opposing paths yielding some thermally less stable linkages through which thermally crosslinked polynaphthoxazine (Poly15-Na) suffers from low thermal stability. It has been shown that pyrolysis MS is a very useful technique to investigate the polymerisation and degradation mechanisms and degradation products of these materials.     

Anisotropically Swelling Gels Attained through Axis‐Dependent Crosslinking of MOF Crystals

Anisotropically deforming objects have attracted considerable interest for use in molecular machines and artificial muscles. Herein, we focus on a new approach based on the crystal crosslinking of organic ligands in a pillared‐layer metal–organic framework (PLMOF). The approach involves the transformation from crosslinked PLMOF to polymer gels through hydrolysis of the coordination bonds between the organic ligands and metal ions, giving a network polymer that exhibits anisotropic swelling. The anisotropic monomer arrangement in the PLMOF underwent axis‐dependent crosslinking to yield anisotropically swelling gels. Therefore, the crystal crosslinking of MOFs should be a useful method for creating actuators with designable deformation properties.