Mono- and bi-nuclear phosphine-phenolate neutral nickel catalysts via simple Schiff-Base condensation for ethylene polymerization

[Display omitted] •First and convenient construction of binuclear phosphine-phenolate nickel catalysts.•Facile steric and electronic modification by simple Schiff-base condensation.•Production of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene.•Strategy of efficient catalyst design for olefin polymerization. In catalytic olefin polymerization, a significant amount of effort has been invested to modify either phosphine substituent or ligand backbone in recently advanced phosphine-phenolate [P,O] neutral nickel catalysts. Unlike other commonly used ligands like phenoxy-imines [N,O] and α-diimines [N,N], [P,O] ligands often require a laborious synthesis technique, which has hindered the rational design of ligand structures and the development of new catalysts. Here we present a novel and effective strategy for creating catalysts using [N,O,P] hybrid ligands. The substituent adjacent to the phenoxy group can be efficiently modified through straightforward Schiff-base condensation reactions with various amines that have established synthetic routes and diverse structures. This process results in the preparation of a series of highly active [P,O] nickel catalysts (up to 1.7 × 107 g mol-1h−1) that are capable of producing ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) (Mw = 243.7 × 104 g/mol) in ethylene polymerization. The additional binding site greatly facilitates modulation of catalytic properties by additives, and parameters such as catalytic activity, polymer molecular weight, and polymer branching can be tuned in this way. Furthermore, binuclear [P,O] neutral nickel catalysts for olefin polymerization are synthesized for the first time using a sequence of diamines. The strategy presented in this work greatly improves the efficiency for the design and synthesis of [P,O] nickel and related catalysts. These findings will be advantageous for future catalyst design and screening.