Polyethylene with Reverse Co-monomer Incorporation: From an Industrial Serendipitous Discovery to Fundamental Understanding.

A triethylaluminium(TEAl)-modified Phillips ethylene polymerisation Cr/Ti/SiO2 catalyst has been developed with two distinct active regions positioned respectively in the inner core and outer shell of the catalyst particle. DRIFTS, EPR, UV-Vis-NIR DRS, STXM, SEM-EDX and GPC-IR studies revealed that the catalyst produces simultaneously two different polymers, i.e., low molecular weight linear-chain polyethylene in the Ti-abundant catalyst particle shell and high molecular weight short-chain branched polyethylene in the Ti-scarce catalyst particle core. Co-monomers for the short-chain branched polymer were generated in situ within the TEAl-impregnated confined space of the Ti-scarce catalyst particle core in close proximity to the active sites that produced the high molecular weight polymer. These results demonstrate that the catalyst particle architecture directly affects polymer composition, offering the perspective of making high-performance polyethylene from a single reactor system using this modified Phillips catalyst.

Sulfonamido-phosphoramidite ligands in cooperative dinuclear hydrogenation catalysis.

Sulfonamido-phosphoramidite ligands lead to the formation of Rh-Rh dinuclear complexes through the anionic P-N(-) bridging character. The resulting "boat-shaped" dinuclear catalysts activate molecular H(2) through a cooperative dinuclear endocyclic mechanism, resulting in one bridging and one classical hydride on the dinuclear complex. These new complexes are very active hydrogenation catalysts that operate via a new cooperative hydrogenation activation mechanism, as calculated with density functional theory, and they display unequaled high selectivities in the hydrogenation of hindered cyclic acetamidoalkenes.

Application of a supramolecular-ligand library for the automated search for catalysts for the asymmetric hydrogenation of industrially relevant substrates.

A procedure is described for the automated screening and lead optimization of a supramolecular-ligand library for the rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of five challenging substrates relevant to industry. Each catalyst is (self-) assembled from two urea-functionalized ligands and a transition-metal center through hydrogen-bonding interactions. The modular ligand structure consists of three distinctive fragments: the urea binding motif, the spacer, and the ligand backbone, which carries the phosphorus donor atom. The building blocks for the ligand synthesis are widely available on a commercial basis, thus enabling access to a large number of ligands of high structural diversity. The simple synthetic steps enabled the scale-up of the ligand synthesis to multigram quantities. For the catalyst screening, a library of twelve new chiral ligands was prepared that comprised substantial variation in electronic and steric properties. The automated procedures employed ensured the fast catalyst assembly, screening, and direct acquisition of samples for analysis. It appeared that the most selective catalyst was different for every substrate investigated and that small variations in the building blocks had a major impact on the catalyst performance. For two substrates, a catalyst was found that provided the product with outstanding enantioselectivity. The subsequent automated optimization of these two leads showed that an increase of catalyst loading, dihydrogen pressure, and temperature had a positive effect on the catalyst activity without affecting the catalyst selectivity.

Real-time Analysis of a Working Triethylaluminium-Modified Cr/Ti/SiO2 Ethylene Polymerization Catalyst with In†Situ Infrared Spectroscopy.

A diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier-transform (DRIFT) study has been conducted at 373 K and 1 bar on an industrial Cr/Ti/SiO2 Phillips-type catalyst modified with, and without, triethylaluminium (TEAl) as co-catalyst. The reaction rate of the polymerization of ethylene, as monitored by the increase in the methylene stretching band of the growing polyethylene (PE), has been investigated as a function of the titanium content. After an initial period of mixed kinetics, with the reaction rate significantly higher for the TEAl-modified catalysts compared with the non-modified catalysts, the polymerization proceeded as a pseudo-zero-order reaction with a reaction rate that increased as a function of titanium loading. Furthermore, it was found that the higher Ti loading caused the appearance of more acidic hydroxyl groups and modified the Cr sites by making them more Lewis acidic, ultimately shortening the induction time and increasing the initial polymerization rate.

Supramolecular catalysis beyond enzyme mimics.

Supramolecular catalysis - the assembly of catalyst species by harnessing multiple weak intramolecular interactions - has, until recently, been dominated by enzyme-inspired approaches. Such approaches often attempt to create an enzyme-like 'active site' and have concentrated on reactions similar to those catalysed by enzymes themselves. Here, we discuss the application of supramolecular assembly to the more traditional transition metal catalysis and to small-molecule organocatalysis. The modularity of self-assembled multicomponent catalysts means that a relatively small pool of catalyst components can provide rapid access to a large number of catalysts that can be evaluated for industrially relevant reactions. In addition, we discuss how catalyst-substrate interactions can be tailored to direct substrates along particular reaction paths and selectivities.

Rhodium-P,O-bidentate coordinated ureaphosphine ligands for asymmetric hydrogenation reactions.

We present new ureaphosphine ligands that coordinate in a P,O-bidentate fashion to rhodium(i). The ureaphosphine-Rh(i)-complexes were effectively used in the asymmetric hydrogenation of cyclic enamides giving high conversions and enantioselectivity.