Homo- and Copolymerization of Olefins Using Binuclear Late Transition Metal Catalyst: The Comonomer Effect

To study on catalyst behavior in homo- and copolymerization of ethylene/1-hexene, a binuclear late transition metal complex (2,6-diisopropyl-C6H2-N=C-(C10H6)-C=N-C6(CH3)4-N=C-(C10H6)-C=N-2,6-diisopropyl-C6H2)(NiBr2)2 (BNC) was used in presence of Methylaluminoxane (MAO) as cocatalyst. Totally the catalyst showed lower activity in copolymerization of the ethylene/1-hexene in comparison to homopolymerization of ethylene. A comonomer effect was observed in copolymerization which at lower concentration of the comonomer, catalyst activity increased and then decreased as 1-hexene content in reactor augmented