Articles you may be interested inAdsorption and ring-opening of lactide on the chiral metal surface Pt(321) S studied by density functional theory J. Chem. Phys. 142, 044703 (2015); 10.1063/1.4906151Role of the reaction intermediates in determining PHIP (parahydrogen induced polarization) effect in the hydrogenation of acetylene dicarboxylic acid with the complex [Rh (dppb)]+ (dppb: 1,4bis(diphenylphosphino)butane)EPR spectroscopy is used to study catalytic hydration and polymerization reaction systems based on a-diimine complexes of Ni(0) and Ni(II) with the general formula NiBr 2 (DAD-R) (R ¼ -C 3 H 7 or -CH 3 ) or Ni(DAD-CH 3 ) 2 (DAD(-C 3 H 7 ) ¼ 1,4-bis(2,6-diiso-propylphenyl)-2,3-(dimethyl-1,4diazabuta-1,3-diene, DAD(-CH 3 ) ¼ 1,4-bis(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-2,3-dimethyl-1,4-diazabuta-1,3diene)), in combination with Lewis acids (AlEt 3 , AlEt 2 Cl, AlEtCl 2 , B(F 5 C 6 ) 3 , BF 3 ÁOEt 2 ). Ni(I) complexes of the form (DAD-R)NiX 2 AlX 0 y (C 2 H 5 ) 3-y composition (an aluminum atom can be replaced by a boron atom) were identified, where R ¼ -CH 3 or -C 3 H 7 , X ¼ Br, and X 0 ¼ Cl or -C 2 H 5 and a-diimine anion radicals are included in derivatives of aluminum or boron. Oxidation reactions of the Ni(DAD-CH 3 ) 2 complex with aluminum alkyl halides and boron derivatives with formation of paramagnetic nickel complexes are observed. It is found that there is no direct relationship between the polymerization activity of ethylene or hydration of the alkenes and the concentration of paramagnetic particles. V C 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.