Effects of tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane on the activation of the Ni(II)-based catalyst in the addition polymerization of norbornene

The activity of the transition metal complex, such as Ni(2-ethyl hexanoate)₂ (1), Co(2-ethyl hexanoate)₂ (2), TiCl₄ (3), or CpTiCl₃ (4) (Cp = cyclopentadiene), in combination with MAO (methylaluminoxane), was investigated in the polymerization of norbornene. The Ni(II) complex 1 with MAO showed moderate activity to give 20.8 kg_polymer/mol_Ni h, while the other three complexes 2-4 with MAO just showed trivial activity. Effects of the Lewis acids on the activation of the catalyst of 1/MAO were examined. The employment of B(C₆F₅)₃ with 1/MAO significantly enhanced the activity to give up to around 133 kg_polymer/mol_Ni h. The use of other borane compounds, such as B(C₆H₅)₃ and BEt₃, or the stronger electron acceptor BF₃ · OBu₂, with 1/MAO in place of B(C₆F₅)₃ clearly showed the main functions of B(C₆F₅)₃. The high Lewis acidity of B(C₆F₅)₃ enabled it to develop matured active complexes, thus enhancing the activity. Several Ni(II) complexes were employed to determine whether their activity was comparable to that of complex 1 in norbornene polymerization. The study of the ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra of the polynorbornene produced with 1/B(C₆F₅)₃/MAO showed that the initiation of addition polymerization occurred through the insertion of the exo face of the norbornene into the active complex. Effects of the variation in the polymerization variables, such as the levels of B(C₆F₅)₃ and MAO, temperature, and solvent, on the polymerization were discussed.