Regioselective partial hydrogenation of tricyclopentadiene (TCPD) was achieved with a high turnover number of 10 000 by catalysis with a N-heterocyclic carbene-palladium complex. Copolymerization of ethylene and the partially hydrogenated product, dihydrotricyclopentadiene (HTCPD), was realized using a catalytic system of [8-The copolymer was unambiguously characterized through the analysis of one-and two-dimensional NMR spectra. The monomer reactivity ratios, r ethylene and r HTCPD , determined through the Fineman-Ross plot, were 2.8 and 0.025, respectively, indicating negligible successive insertion of two HTCPD. A nearly alternating copolymer with a HTCPD content of 45 mol % was obtained with a satisfactory activity (4.7 Â 10 6 g/(mol Ti h)), of which T g was 177 °C, significantly higher than that of norbornene/ethylene copolymer at the same cycloolefin content. Tensile stress-strain curves indicated that the brittleness observed for a high-T g norbornene/ethylene copolymer was relieved to show some ductile property for the HTCPD/ethylene copolymer of the same level of high T g .

The ortho-lithiation of N-alkylanilines is accomplished by the treatment of t BuLi with the lithium carbamate compounds generated in situ from N-alkylanilines. The lithiated compounds attack the carbonylcarbon on 2,3,4,5-tetramethylcyclopentenone, 1-indanone, or 9-fluorenone to yield tertiary alcohols, which are transformed to N-alkylanilines attaching a Me 4 C 5 , indenyl, or fluorenyl unit at an ortho-position. From the compounds, various o-phenylene-bridged (Me 4 C 5 , indenyl, or fluorenyl)/amido titanium complexes are prepared in one step. The Me 4 C 5 /ethylamido titanium complex exhibits a similar catalytic performance to the CGC [Me 2 Si(η 5 -Me 4 C 5 )(N t Bu)]TiCl 2 in ethylene/1-octene copolymerization in terms of activity, molecular weight of the obtained polymer, and 1-octene incorporation.

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