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The influence of axial steric hindrance in α-diimine nickel catalysts on ethylene polymerization is paramount for enhancing the catalytic performance especially in terms of thermal stability and polymer molecular weights. In this study, a set of five nonsymmetrical 1,2-bis(arylimino)acenaphthene–nickel complexes, incorporating 2,6-bis(bis(4-fluorophenyl)methyl)-3,4,5-trimethoxyaniline and 2,4,6-trialkylaniline moieties, was prepared to tailor the catalytic attributes for ethylene polymerization. In-depth studies on the polymerization of ethylene, using two different cocatalysts and different reaction conditions, revealed exceptional catalytic activities for these precatalysts with activity levels as high as 20.3 × 106 g mol−1 h−1 at 30 °C and high molecular weights of the obtained polyethylene with adjustable branching degrees and distributions. Reactions at elevated temperatures validated the enhanced thermal stability of Ni-Me2 precatalysts, displaying a noteworthy activity of 1.4 × 106 g mol−1 h−1 at 100 °C. Polyethylene derived from more sterically hindered nickel complexes exhibited relatively higher molecular weights and branching degrees compared to less hindered analogues. This trend was consistent across mechanical and elastic properties, which ranged from 6.1 MPa to 10.6 MPa and 26% to 49%, respectively. Moreover, the manipulation of branching degree by increasing the reaction temperature led to an elastic recovery of up to 63%, indicating potential formation of thermoplastic polyethylene elastomers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to execute machine learning (ML) method for building an intelligent prediction system for catalytic activities of a relatively big dataset of 1056 transition metal complex precatalysts in ethylene polymerization. Among 14 different algorithms, the CatBoost ensemble model provides the best prediction with the correlation coefficient (R2) values of 0.999 for training set and 0.834 for external test set. The interpretation of the obtained model indicates that the catalytic activity is highly correlated with number of atom, conjugated degree in the ligand framework, and charge distributions. Correspondingly, 10 novel complexes are designed and predicted with higher catalytic activities. This work shows the potential application of the ML method as a high‐precision tool for designing advanced catalysts for ethylene polymerization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The properties and practical applications of polyethylene are closely associated with the polymer molecular weight, polydispersity, degree of branching, and the type of branches and its arrangement within microstructure. In this study, a set of structurally diverse unsymmetrical 1‐(2,6‐dibenzhydryl‐4‐hydroxylphenylimino)‐2‐(2,6‐(R)‐4‐(R1)phenylimino)acenaphthene‐nickel dibromide precatalysts (where Ni2Me [R = Me, R1 = H], Ni2Et [R = Et, R1 = H], Ni2iPr [R = iPr, R1 = H], Ni3Me [R, R1 = Me], Ni2Et,Me [R = Et, R1 = Me]) has been prepared and studied for ethylene polymerization. Molecular structure analysis of Ni2Me and Ni2Et complexes revealed distorted tetrahedral geometries at nickel. The polymerization activities are extremely high for all precatalysts upon activation with either EASC or MMAO aluminum reagents, a trend notably pronounced in the case of the EASC‐activated systems, entering activity in the range of 10 million g mol−1 h−1 at 30°C. The Ni2Me demonstrated exceptional performance at higher temperatures, achieving an activity of 2.4 × 106 g mol−1 h−1 at 100°C and generated high molecular weight polyethylene (Mw = 105 g mol−1) with narrow polymer dispersity across all reaction temperatures (Ð ≈ 1.5). High temperature 13C NMR spectra identified 97–142/1000C branches in resulting polyethylene, a feature significantly dependent on the reaction temperature. In terms of mechanical properties, stress–strain analysis indicated that polyethylene synthesized at lower temperatures displayed superior tensile strength compared with that produced at higher reaction temperatures, while a reverse trend was observed in strain recovery analysis. The high strain recovery (up to 72%) of these polyethylene highlights the characteristic properties of thermoplastic elastomers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the implementation of a one-pot strategy, five examples of non-symmetrical [N,N-diaryl-11-phenyl-1,2,3,7,8,9,10-heptahydrocyclohepta[b]quinoline-4,6-diimine]iron(II) chloride complexes (aryl = 2,6-Me2Ph Fe1, 2,6-Et2Ph Fe2, 2,6-i-Pr2Ph Fe3, 2,4,6-Me3Ph Fe4, and 2,6-Et2-4-MePh Fe5), incorporating fused six- and seven-membered carbocyclic rings and appended with a remote para-phenyl group, were readily prepared. The molecular structures of Fe2 and Fe3 emphasize the variation in fused ring size and the skewed disposition of the para-phenyl group present in the N′,N,N″-ligand support. Upon activation with MAO or MMAO, Fe1–Fe5 all showed high catalytic activity for ethylene polymerization, with an exceptional level of 35.92 × 106 g (PE) mol−1 (Fe) h−1 seen for mesityl-substituted Fe4/MMAO operating at 60 °C. All catalysts generated highly linear polyethylene with good control of the polymer molecular weight achievable via straightforward manipulation of run temperature. Typically, low molecular weight polymers with narrow dispersity (Mw/Mn = 1.5) were produced at 80 °C (MMAO: 3.7 kg mol−1 and MAO: 4.9 kg mol−1), while at temperatures between 40 °C and 50 °C, moderate molecular weight polymers were obtained (MMAO: 35.6–51.6 kg mol−1 and MAO: 72.4–95.5 kg mol−1). Moreover, analysis of these polyethylenes by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy highlighted the role played by both β-H elimination and chain transfer to aluminum during chain termination, with the highest rate of β-H elimination seen at 60 °C for the MMAO-activated system and 70 °C for the MAO system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]