Bimetallic
catalysts have shown promise for improving polar comonomer
incorporation by late transition metals, but such effects are underexplored
using early transition metal catalysts. Herein, the copolymerization
of ethylene and α-olefins bearing alcohol groups was performed
using mono- and dizirconium bisamine bisphenolate catalysts in the
presence of MAO and Al
i
Bu3.
Under these conditions, catalyst activity was retained with comonomer
incorporation trends mirroring those observed with unfunctionalized
α-olefins, i.e., lower incorporation by bimetallic catalysts.
Although incorporation levels are low, these data provide mechanistic
insight for polar comonomer incorporation. These results are consistent
with our earlier proposal that larger comonomers sterically clash
with the distal metal center of the bimetallic catalysts, leading
to lower incorporation. Additionally, a bimetallic mechanism for polar
comonomer coordination and incorporation is not supported by the current
data.