Trimethylammonium[tetrakis(pentafluorophenoxy)borate], a safe way to synthesize novel co-catalysts for olefin polymerization

Abstract The synthesis and characterization of the novel co-catalyst trimethylammonium[tetrakis(pentafluorophenoxy)borate] ( 1 ) is reported. Activation of TIBA alliylated 2,6-bis[1-(2,6-diisopropylphenylimino)ethyl]pyridyl-iron(II) chloride ( 2 ) using activator 1 forms an active catalyst system for homogeneous polymerization of ethene. The molecular structure of this new weakly coordinating anion was determined by single-crystal X-ray analysis. The straightforward synthesis of 1 is interesting for possible industrial applications. Polymerization experiments using activator 1 demonstrate higher activities than with the commonly used co-catalyst [HNMe 2 Ph][B(C 6 F 5 ) 4 ].