Salicylaldiminato pyrrolylaldiminato group 4 metal alkene polymerization catalysts: Combining high activity with high comonomer incorporation

Treatment of Zr{3-But-2-(O)C6H3CHN(C6F5)}Cl3(THF) with K[2-(C6H5NCH)C4H3N] yields Zr{3-But-2-(O)C6H3CHN(C6F5)}{2-(C6H5NCH)C4H3N}Cl2, the first example of a (salicylaldiminato)(pyrrolylaldiminato)zirconium complex. The catalytic behavior of both the new zirconium pre-catalyst and its titanium analogue have been determined. The titanium system is the more effective catalyst for both ethene homopolymerization and copolymerizations with hex-1-ene, norbornene, and cyclopentene. The titanium catalyst combines the high productivities of the bis(salicylaldiminato) parent complex with the more favorable comonomer incorporation of the bis(pyrrolylaldiminato) series.