Preparation, structure and ethylene polymerization behavior of mixed-halide nickel(II) complexes and cobalt(II) complex containing imidazolium

Preparation of two imidazolium salts, two monomeric nickel(II) and one cobalt(II) complexes bearing imidazolium ligands is described, The solid-state structures of these compounds have determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. After activation with methylaluminoxane (MAO) the nickel complexes show moderate catalytic activities of up to 6 × 10⁵ g PE mol⁻¹Ni h⁻¹ for polymerization of ethylene. Catalytic activities, molecular weights have been investigated under the various reaction conditions.