A new series of palladium catalysts ligated by a chelating bisphosphine monoxide bearing diarylphosphino groups (aryl-BPMO) exhibits markedly higher reactivity for ethylene/methyl acrylate copolymerisation.

A series of palladium complexes bearing a bisphosphine monoxide with a methylene linker, that is, [κ 2 -(Pd/ BPMO), were synthesized and evaluated as catalysts for the homopolymerization of ethylene and the copolymerization of ethylene and polar monomers. X-ray crystallographic analyses revealed that these Pd/BPMO complexes exhibit significantly narrower bite angles and longer Pd−O bonds than Pd/BPMO complexes bearing a phenylene linker, while maintaining almost constant Pd−P bond lengths. Among the complexes synthesized, menthyl-substituted complex 3f (R 1 = (1R,2S,5R)-2-isopropyl-5-methylcyclohexan-1-yl; R 2 = Me) showed the best catalytic performance in the homo-and copolymerization in terms of molecular weight and polymerization activity. Meanwhile, complex 3e (R 1 = t-Bu; R 2 = Me) exhibited a markedly higher incorporation of comonomers in the copolymerization of ethylene and allyl acetate (≤12.0 mol %) or methyl methacrylate (≤0.6 mol %). The catalytic system represents one of the first examples of late-transition-metal complexes bearing an alkylene-bridged bidentate ligand that afford high-molecular-weight copolymers from the copolymerization of ethylene and polar monomers.

Two types of thieno-bridged porphyrins were synthesized by incorporating a thiophene group across their meso and β positions with different directions of the thiophene ring to investigate the aromaticity of these porphyrins with extended π-systems. The 2,3-thieno-bridged porphyrin showed a larger antiaromatic contribution than did the 3,4-thieno-bridged porphyrin. In the former, the antiaromatic contribution is based on a 20-π-electron conjugated circuit. The two thieno-bridged porphyrins were characterized by calculations of nucleus-independent chemical shift and anisotropy of the induced current density as well as by X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, UV-vis-NIR absorption spectroscopy, electrochemical studies, time-resolved excited-state analysis, and two-photon absorption cross section measurements. Chemical derivatization of the 2,3-thieno-bridged porphyrin was also demonstrated.