Influence of Polyethylene Glycol Unit on Palladium- and Nickel-Catalyzed Ethylene Polymerization and Copolymerization

The transition-metal-catalyzed copolymerization of olefins with polar functionalized co-monomers represents a major challenge in the field of olefin polymerization. It is extremely difficult to simultaneously achieve improvements in catalytic activity, polar monomer incorporation, and copolymer molecular weight through ligand modifications. Herein we introduce a polyethylene glycol unit to some phosphine-sulfonate palladium and nickel catalysts, and its influence on ethylene polymerization and copolymerization is investigated. In ethylene polymerization, this strategy leads to enhanced activity, catalyst stability, and increased polyethylene molecular weight. In ethylene copolymerization with polar monomers, improvements in all copolymerization parameters are realized. This effect is most significant for polar monomers with hydrogen-bond-donating abilities.