Dialkyl and methyl-alkyl zirconocenes: Synthesis and characterization of zirconocene-alkyls that model the polymeryl chain in alkene polymerizations

Zirconocene precatalysts with sterically bulky alkyl groups were designed as model systems for the propagating species in zirconocene-catalyzed alkene polymerization. Specialty alkyllithium reagents Li(CH2CEt3) and Li(CH2CMe2CH2Ph) were prepared and utilized in the synthesis of dialkyl and methyl-alkyl zirconocenes of the form CpCp*ZrR2, Cp2Zr(CH3)(R), and CpCp*Zr(CH3)(R) (Cp = (eta(5)-C5H5); Cp* = (eta(5)-C5Me5); R = CH2CMe3, CH2SiMe3, CH2CEt3, CH2CMe2CH2Ph). These new zirconocene alkyls were isolated and fully characterized by NMR spectroscopy and in some cases by X-ray diffraction. The molecular structures determined display the bent-sandwich coordination mode common for zirconocenes. The steric influence of the alkyl group on the observed structural parameters is reflected in slightly expanded C-Zr-C or C-Zr-Cl angles in the equatorial plane and long zirconium-alkyl bond distances.