Issue 22, 2016

Bis(amido) rare-earth complexes coordinated by tridentate amidinate ligand: synthesis, structure and catalytic activity in the polymerization of isoprene and rac-lactide

Abstract

A series of bis(amido) complexes of rare earth metals {2-[Ph2P(O)]C6H4NC(tBu)N(2,6-Me2C6H3)}Ln(N(SiMe3)2)2, (Ln = Y (2), Nd (3), La (4)) was synthesized using the amine elimination reaction of Ln[N(SiMe3)2]3 (Ln = Y, Nd, La) and parent amidine 1 in THF, and the products were isolated in 60 (2), 61 (3) and 72% (4) yields, respectively. The X-ray studies revealed that complexes 2–4 are solvent-free and feature intramolecular coordination of the Ph2P[double bond, length as m-dash]O group to the Ln ion. Complexes 2–4 were investigated as precatalysts for isoprene polymerization. The ternary systems 2–4/borate/AlR3 (AlR3 = AliBu3, AliBu2H; borate = [Ph3C][B(C6F5)4], [PhNHMe2][B(C6F5)4]) were found to be active in isoprene polymerization and enable complete conversion of 1000 equivalents of monomer into polymer at 25 °C within 1–24 h affording polyisoprenes with polydispersities Mw/Mn = 1.12–9.46. The effect of the organoaluminium component and [Ln]/[AlR3] ratio on the catalytic activity and selectivity of the ternary catalytic systems was investigated. Complexes 2–4 proved to be efficient catalysts for the ring-opening polymerization of rac-lactide, which allow conversion of up to 500 equivalents of monomer into a polymer at room temperature within 30 min and afford atactic polylactides with high molecular weights and moderate molecular-weight distributions (1.29–2.12). Complexes 2–4 appear to be well-suited for achieving immortal polymerization of lactide, through the introduction of large amounts of isopropanol as a chain-transfer agent.

Graphical abstract: Bis(amido) rare-earth complexes coordinated by tridentate amidinate ligand: synthesis, structure and catalytic activity in the polymerization of isoprene and rac-lactide

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 Dec 2015
Accepted
02 Feb 2016
First published
03 Feb 2016

RSC Adv., 2016,6, 17913-17920

Bis(amido) rare-earth complexes coordinated by tridentate amidinate ligand: synthesis, structure and catalytic activity in the polymerization of isoprene and rac-lactide

A. O. Tolpygin, O. A. Linnikova, T. A. Glukhova, A. V. Cherkasov, G. K. Fukin and A. A. Trifonov, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 17913 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA27960G

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