Nickel(II) Complexes Bearing 4-Arylimino-1,2,3-trihydroacridines: Synthesis,Characterization, and Ethylene Oligomerization

Nickel(II) complexes have attracted much attention as a new generation of olefin catalysts since the α-diiminonickel complex was discovered as a highly efficient procatalyst for ethylene polymerization. A series of novel 4-arylimino-1,2,3-trihydroacridylnickel(II) dihalide complexes was synthesized in a one-pot reaction of 2,3-dihydroacridine-4-one and different anilines with nickel(II) chloride or nickel(II) bromide 1,2-dimethoxyethane complex. The complexes were characterized by infrared spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The molecular structures of the representative complexes 4-(2,6-diisopropylphenylimino)-1,2,3-trihydroacridylnickel(II) dichloride (C3), 4-(2,4,6-trimethylphenylimino)-1,2,3-trihydroacridylnickel dichloride(II) (C4), and 4-(2,4,6-trimethylphenylimino)-1,2,3-trihydroacridylnickel(II) dibromide (C9) were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray crystallography, revealing a distorted tetrahedral geometry around the nickel(II) of C3 and distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometry for C4 and C9. With the activation of trimethylaluminium (TMA), all nickel(II) complexes exhibited good activity for ethylene oligomerization, and oligomer products ranged from butene (C₄) to hexadecene (C₁₆).