Ethylene/Polar Norbornene Copolymerizations By Bimetallic Salicylaldimine-Nickel Catalysts

Bimetallic salicylaldimine-nickel complexes, bridge{[(2,6-iPr(2)C(6)H(2))-N=CH-(2-anthracenyl-C6H3-O)-kappa(2) -N,O]Ni(eta(3)-CH2Ph)}(2) (bridge = orthO-C6H4, 10; bridge = CH2, 11; bridge = ortho-C6H4(C6H4)(2), 12), are prepared. The bimetallic complexes 10-12 show higher activities and higher polar monomer incorporations in the ethylene/2-(methoxycarbonyl)norbornene and ethylene/2-(acetoxymethyl)norbomene copolymerizations than the mononuclear complex, [(2,6-iPr(2)C(6)H(3))-N=CH-(2-anthracenyl-C6H3-O)-kappa(2)-N,O]-Ni(eta(3)-CH2Ph) (13).