The aluminum complexes LAlMe2 (Al1–Al5: LH = 2,6-(R1)2-4-R2-C6H2NHCH2C6H4-2-PPh2; Al1, R1 = H, R2 = H; Al2, R1 =
Me, R2 = H; Al3, R1 =
i
Pr, R2 = H; Al4, R1 = Ph2CH, R2 =
i
Pr; Al5, R1 = Cl, R2 = H) have
been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis and 1H, 13C, and 31P NMR. NMR analysis in
solution reveals an interesting hemilabile coordination of the soft
P donor. The molecular structures of Al2–Al4 were defined by X-ray diffraction studies, showing a distorted-tetrahedral
geometry around the aluminum center in all structures. Careful comparison
of these crystal structures suggested that different substituents
on the ligands could lead to unignorable changed coordination environments
around the Al center, thus affecting their catalytic properties. In
the presence of BnOH, complexes Al1–Al5 efficiently catalyzed the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of ε-caprolactone
(ε-CL) with high conversions in a controlled manner, and high
molecular weights (M
n up to 118.6 kg mol–1) of polycaprolactones (PCLs) were readily prepared.
Immortal polymerizations by Al4 having bulky Ph2CH groups were also studied with up to 20 equiv of alcohols and 2000
equiv of monomers, without sacrificing polymerization control.