Copolymerization of olefins and CO catalyzed by new chiral arsine–oxazoline palladium complexes

Coordination of a chiral arsine–oxazoline ligand (As–N) toward (COD)PdCl2 and (COD)PdMeCl leading to (As–N)PdCl2 (3) and (As–N)PdMeCl (4) were reported. Both 3 and 4 were characterized by spectroscopic and X-ray single crystal diffraction methods. Treatment of 4 with AgBF4 in the presence of acetonitrile resulted in the formation of [(As–N)PdMe(CH3CN)]BF4 (6). Complex 6 catalyzed the copolymerization of CO and olefin, but in low conversions. In fact, the palladium black and [(As–N)2Pd](BF4)2 (7) were formed from the copolymerization processes, which may explain the lower catalytic activity of 6. Crystal structure of 7 was also determined.

Graphical abstractChiral arsine–oxazoline palladium complex mediates the insertion of CO and olefins leading to the chiral copolymers.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide