A broadly tunable synthesis of linear alpha-olefins

作者：Gollwitzer Andreas; Dietel Thomas; Kretschmer Winfried P; Kempe Rhett^*

来源：Nature Communications, 2017, 8(1): 1226.

DOI：10.1038/s41467-017-01507-2

The catalytic synthesis of linear alpha-olefins from ethylene is a technologically highly important reaction. A synthesis concept allowing the formation of selective products and various linear a-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 beta-hydride elimination/transfer catalyst. This nickel catalyst displaces the grown alkyl chains forming linear alpha-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 a-olefin distributions centered at 850 gmol(-1) with a low polydispersity. The key to this highly flexible linear alpha-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.

• 出版日期2017-10-31