A broadly tunable synthesis of linear α-olefins.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29089510.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-017-01507-2 and PMC identifier 5663737.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The catalytic synthesis of linear α-olefins from ethylene is a technologically highly important reaction. A synthesis concept allowing the formation of selective products and various linear α-olefin product distributions with one catalyst system is highly desirable. Here, we describe a trimetallic catalyst system (Y-Al-Ni) consisting of a rare earth metal polymerization catalyst which can mediate coordinative chain transfer to triethylaluminum combined with a simultaneously operating nickel β-hydride elimination/transfer catalyst. This nickel catalyst displaces the grown alkyl chains forming linear α-olefins and recycles the aluminum-based chain transfer agent. With one catalyst system, we can synthesize product spectra ranging from selective 1-butene formation to α-olefin distributions centered at 850 gmol<sup>-1</sup> with a low polydispersity. The key to this highly flexible linear α-olefin synthesis is the easy tuning of the rates of the Y and Ni catalysis independently of each other. The reaction is substoichiometric or formally catalytic regarding the chain transfer agent.