Titanium(IV) complexes containing mono‐cyclopentadienyl and bulky trityloxy mixed ligands: synthesis and polymerization activity

Eight new R¹CpTiCl₂(OC(C₆H₄R²)Ph₂) complexes were synthesized by the reaction of R¹CpTiCl₃ with Ph₂(R²C₆H₄)COH (R²C₆H₄ = phenyl or o‐methyl‐phenyl) in the presence of Et₃N in good yield and characterized by ¹H NMR, elemental analysis, IR and mass spectrometry. A suitable single crystal of complex 2 (R¹: CH₃, R²: H) was obtained and the structure determined by X‐ray diffraction. When activated by methylaluminoxane (MAO), all complexes were active for the polymerization of ethylene and styrene. The effect of variation in temperature, catalyst concentration and MAO/catalyst molar ratio was also studied. Complex 5 (R¹: n‐C₄H₉, R²: H) showed a moderate conversion (37.4%) for the polymerization of methyl methacrylate. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.