Ethylene polymerisation and oligomerisation with arene-substituted phenoxy-imine complexes of titanium: investigation of multi-mechanism catalytic behaviour

A range of unsubstituted (<b>1,2</b>) and 6-substituted (<b>3-5</b>) <i>ortho</i>-phenoxy-imine ligands have been prepared and converted to their silyl ether derivatives (<b>6-10</b>). Reaction of silyl ethers with TiCl₄(thf)₂ in the case of the unsubstituted species yields bis-ligated complexes while the substituted species react cleanly to yield complexes of the form [Ti(O^NR)Cl₃(thf)]. In most cases the complexes have been characterised by X-ray crystallography. Testing of the complexes for ethylene oligomerisation and polymerisation has been undertaken employing alkylaluminium co-catalysts (AlEt₃, MAO). In all cases the predominant product formed is polyethylene however careful analysis of the liquid phase reveals a complex process by which 1-butene is most likely formed via Cossee mechanism while 1-hexene results from a metallacyclic process.