A series of lithium and sodium iminophenoxide complexes have been successfully synthesized and characterized by X-ray crystallography and investigated as catalysts for the ring opening polymerization of L-lactide. The nature and steric bulk of the ligands coordinated to the central metal ions greatly influence the catalytic properties. Complexes with bidenate ligands exhibit higher catalytic activity than tridentate counterparts because the third coordination atom contends with L-lactide, which decreases activity. Oxygen is the third atom in the tridentate ligand, providing stronger chelation ability with Li and Na than nitrogen or sulfur and occupies the space with which L-lactide is coordinated.
Structurally diverse copper acetate complexes based on NNO-tridentate Schiff-base ligands were synthesized and characterized as mono-, di-, and trinuclear complexes with respect to varied ancillary ligands. Treatment of the ligand precursors (L(1)-H = 2-(1-((2-(dimethylamino)ethyl)imino)ethyl)-4-methylphenol, L(2)-H = 4-chloro-2-(1-((2-(dimethylamino)ethyl)imino)ethyl)phenol, and L(3)-H = 2-(1-((2-(dimethylamino)ethyl)imino)ethyl)-5-methylphenol) with Cu(OAc)2·H2O (1 equiv) in refluxing ethanol afforded five-coordinate mono- or bimetallic copper complexes ([(L(1))Cu(OAc)(H2O)] (1); [(L(2))Cu(OAc)(H2O)] (2); [(L(3))2Cu2(OAc)2] (3)) in high yields. Dinuclear copper acetate analogue [(L(1))2Cu2(OAc)2] (4) resulted from treatment of L(1)-H as the ligand precursor in refluxing anhydrous MeOH with equimolar proportions of metal acetate salt under a dry nitrogen atmosphere. However, a trinuclear complex, [(L(4))2Cu3(OAc)4] (5), was obtained on utilizing 2-(1-((2-(dimethylamino)ethyl)imino)ethyl)-5-methoxyphenol (L(4)-H) as the proligand under the same synthetic route of 1-3; this complex was also synthesized in the reaction of L(4)-H and copper(II) acetate monohydrate in the ratio of 2:3, giving a quantitative yield. All complexes are active catalysts for copolymerization of cyclohexene oxide (CHO) and CO2 without cocatalysts. In particular, dinuclear Cu complex 3 performed satisfactorily to produce polycarbonates with controllable molecular weights and high carbonate linkages. These copper complexes are the first examples that are effective for both CO2/CHO copolymerization and formation of polymers in a controlled fashion.
A series of calcium complexes supported by NNO-tridentate ketiminate ligands have been synthesized and characterized. X-ray structural studies indicate that these complexes bear a mononuclear feature with hexa-coordinated calcium centers bonding to two ketiminate ligands. Polymerization of L-lactide catalyzed by these complexes proceeds rapidly and well controlled in the presence of a variety of alcohols. In addition, these complexes reveal good catalytic activity even with the addition of up to 80 equiv. of benzyl alcohol as a transfer agent. Furthermore, kinetic studies show ROP of L-lactide is a first-order dependency on [LA] and a second-order dependency on [BnOH].
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