MOF-Supported Selective Ethylene Dimerization Single-Site Catalysts through One-Pot Postsynthetic Modification

The one-pot postfunctionalization allows anchoring a molecular nickel complex into a mesoporous metal-organic framework (Ni@(Fe)MIL-101). It is generating a very active and reusable catalyst for the liquid-phase ethylene dimerization to selectively form 1-butene. Higher selectivity for 1-butene is found using the Ni@(Fe)MIL-101 catalyst than reported for molecular nickel diimino complexes.