Rational Design of High-Performance Phosphine Sulfonate Nickel Catalysts for Ethylene Polymerization and Copolymerization with Polar Monomers

Use of palladium catalysts in olefin polymerization and copolymerization has evolved rapidly. In contrast, earth abundant and low-cost nickel catalysts generally suffer from drawbacks that include low thermal stability and generation of low molecular-weight polymers in the presence of polar monomers. By taking advantage of several design strategies, high-performance phosphine-sulfonate-based nickel catalysts were developed. These nickel catalysts demonstrated high activities and thermal stabilities to afford high-molecular-weight polyethylene. Most importantly, high-molecular-weight copolymers could be generated through the copolymerization of ethylene with a variety of polar monomers.