UNBRIDGED CYCLOPENTADIENYL-FLUORENYL COMPLEXES OF ZIRCONIUM AS CATALYSTS FOR HOMOGENEOUS OLEFIN POLYMERIZATION

The reaction of various lithium fluorenyl compounds, Li(C(13)H(7)R(1)R (2)) (R(1),R(2) = H, alkyl or aryl) (1a-1n), with C5H5ZrCl3 leads to u nbridged fluorenyl complexes of the type (C5H5)(C(13)H(7)R(1)R(2))ZrCl 2 (2a-2n) which can be converted to the corresponding metallocene dime thyl complexes (3a-3e). In combination with methylaluminoxane (MAO), 2 a-2n show a higher catalytic activity as homogeneous ethylene polymeri zation catalysts than (C5H5)(2)ZrCl2. Compound 2d (R(1) = 2-Me; R(2) = 7-Me) was characterized by an X-ray structure analysis.