Stereospecific polymerizations of 1,3-butadiene catalyzed by Co(II) complexes ligated by 2,6-bis(benzimidazolyl)pyridines

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/j.molcata.2010.04.002

Highly stereoregular polybutadiene polymers with 1,4-cis isomeric content is synthesized using a series of 2,6-bis(benzimidazolyl)pyridine Co(II) on activation with alkylaluminum cocatalysts under moderate reaction conditions.

Full text of DOI:10.1016/j.molcata.2010.04.002

Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical 325 (2010) 84–90
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/molcata
Stereospecific polymerizations of 1,3-butadiene catalyzed by Co(II) complexes
ligated by 2,6-bis(benzimidazolyl)pyridines
Vinukrishnan Appukuttan, Lin Zhang, Ju Young Ha, Deepak Chandran,
Bijal Kottukkal Bahuleyan, Chang-Sik Ha, Il Kim∗
The WCU Center for Synthetic Polymer Bioconjugate Hybrid Materials, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering,
Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Republic of Korea
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
The tridentate 2,6-bis(benzimidazolyl)pyridine ligands were combined with CoCl2 to prepare a series
of complexes of the general formula: [Py(Bm-R)2]CoCl2 (where Py = pyridyl, Bm = benzimidazolyl, R = H
(3a); –Me (3b); –Bz (3c)). These complexes were characterized by mass and elemental analysis, along
with X-ray diffraction analysis. The geometry around the five coordinated Co atom in 3c consists of a
Received 6 January 2010
Received in revised form 7 April 2010
Accepted 7 April 2010
Available online 7 May 2010
ˆ ˆ
distorted square pyramid in which cobalt is surrounded by tridentate NNN ligand and two chlorines. The
Co(II) complexes exhibited high catalytic activities for the polymerization of 1,3-butadiene on activation
with alkylaluminums to yield predominantly cis-1,4-polybutadiene with high molecular weight. Choice
of cocatalysts was found to be a decisive factor in determining the activity and product microstructure.
Ethylaluminum sesquichloride (EASC) was found to be the most efficient one resulting in polymers with
about 97% 1,4-cis content. The ligand modification by N-alkylation shows considerable influence on the
catalytic activity by virtue of variation of electronic environment of the active centers. The stereoselec-
tivity of the catalysts was consistent for a wide range of reaction conditions, except the formation of a
considerable amount of 1,4-trans inserted units at high temperature.
Keywords:
Bis(benzimidazolyl)pyridines
Homogeneous catalysis
Polybutadiene
Stereospecific polymers
Transition metal chemistry
© 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
the Co halides when combined with triphenyl phosphine and
pyridyl adducts produced predominantly 1,2-PBD [7] and even pro-
The catalytic insertion polymerization of 1,3-butadiene (BD) by
transition metals is characterized by the high degree of regios-
electivity of the incoming monomer and also by the extend
of stereoregulation of the formed polybutadiene (PBD) result-
ing in polymers of different isomeric forms, such as cis-1,4,
trans-1,4, 1,2-syndiotactic, 1,2-isotactic, and 1,2-atactic. The use
of different catalysts produces PBDs with different micro and
macro structures making the properties and processability dif-
ferent and hence finding distinctive applications [1,2]. Selective
cis-1,4 polymerization of BD is of prime importance since the
elastomeric rubbery product, cis-1,4-PBD, constitutes as one
of the major ingredients in the tire industry [1]. Industrially,
Ziegler–Natta catalysts of Ti and, carboxylates, acetylacetonates
or alcoholates of transition metals in combination with vari-
ous organoaluminums are used in the production of cis-1,4-PBDs
[1–3]. Cobalt based catalysts attract special interest as the product
microstructure depends on catalyst formulation [4]. The carboxy-
lates and halides of Co are stereoselective to high cis-1,4-PBDs
when activated with methylalumoxane (MAO) [5,6]. However,
duced highly trans-1,4-PBD when triethyl amine adduct was used
[8].
The structure of active center is the determining factor for
the activity, molecular weight (MW) and more importantly the
stereochemistry of the polymerization. For this reason, recent
interests are vested on organometallic single-site homogeneous
catalyst comprising of transition metals and lanthanides with
tailored catalyst design for the production of highly stereoregu-
lar PBDs [1,2,9–14]. Over the past decade, after the introduction
of 2,6-bis(imino)pyridine ligand for cobalt and iron catalysts, a
ˆ ˆ
large extend of NNN tridentate ligands based on either derivatives
of bis(imino)pyridines or through designing new organic com-
pounds especially consisting of heterocyclics are reported [15–18].
Though such complexes were extensively studied for the oligo- and
polymerization of olefins, their extension as catalysts in diolefin
polymerization is very few in number. However, the significance of
the ligand environment towards the polymer microstructure and
activity were revealed by previous reports involving Co(II) catalysts
ˆ ˆ
ˆ
based on NNN [19–22] and NO [23,24] chelates, which produces
high cis-1,4-PBDs. It could be observed from these systems that the
steric bulkiness of substituents adjacent to metal center imparted
a negative influence towards the polymerization activity and on
molecular weight (MW) of resulting polymers.
∗
Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 51 510 2399; fax: +82 51 513 7720.
E-mail address: ilkim@pusan.ac.kr (I. Kim).
1381-1169/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.molcata.2010.04.002

V. Appukuttan et al. / Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical 325 (2010) 84–90
85
In order to get deeper insights on this effect, in the
present study, we are utilizing the open chelating site of 2,6-
bis(benzimidazolyl)pyridines devoid of any adjacent substituents
as a tridentate ligand for Co complexes in the production of cis-
1,4-PBDs. Even though the transition metal complexes based on
such ligands were reported previously to study structure–property
relation [25–27], much attention was not diverted to exploit their
potential as coordination catalysts. Chromium complexes of similar
ligand systems were reported to produce oligomers and polymers
of ethylene simultaneously [28,29]. As the continuation of the
study in search for new catalysts for BD polymerization, herein
we report the synthesis, characterization and BD polymerization
aspects of 2,6-bis(benzimidazolyl)pyridine ligated tridentate Co(II)
complexes. The complexes were synthesized in high yields and
their structure was confirmed by mass and elemental analyses.
The crystal structure was also elucidated by single crystal X-ray
diffraction technique. BD polymerization has been performed at
different reaction conditions to evaluate their influence on the cat-
alytic activity and the microstructure of polymers. In a commercial
point of view, the effectiveness of ethylaluminum sesquichlo-
ride (EASC) as a cheaper and efficient cocatalyst has also been
explored.
Scheme 1. Synthesis of complexes: (i) pyridine-2,6 dicarboxylic acid, (ii) NaH/R-X
(Me-I, Bz-Br) and (iii) CoCl2·6H2O.
2.3. Synthesis of cobalt complexes (3a–3c)
2.3.1. 2,6-Bis(benzimidazol-2-yl)-pyridine cobalt(II) chloride (3a)
A mixture of 1 (0.60 g, 1.93 mmol) and CoCl2·6H2O (0.46 g,
1.93 mmol) was stirred in 10 mL of THF for 12 h at room temper-
ature. The green colored solid precipitated was filtered, washed
with THF (3× 20 mL) and once with diethyl ether (20 mL), and
then dried under vacuum. Yield 0.74 g (87%). Elemental analysis
for C19H13N5CoCl2, calcd: C 51.73, H 2.97, N 15.87 found C 51.26, H
3.01, N 15.76. FAB-MS (m/z): 405 [M−Cl]+.
2. Experimental
2.1. General procedures and materials
2.3.2. 2,6-Bis(1ꢀ-methylbenzimidazol-2ꢀ-yl)pyridine cobalt(II)
chloride (3b)
Procedure similar for 3a was adopted, compound 2b (0.50 g,
1.47 mmol) and CoCl2·6H2O (0.35 g, 1.47 mmol) yielding 0.62 g
(90%) of green solid. Elemental analysis for C21H17N5CoCl2, calcd:
C 53.75, H 3.65, N 14.93 found: C 53.32, H 3.71, N 15.12. FAB-MS
(m/z): 436 [M−Cl]+.
Reactions involving air or moisture sensitive compounds were
performed under a purified nitrogen atmosphere using Schlenk
technique. Toluene was distilled over Na/benzophenone and stored
over molecular sieves (4 Å). Polymerization grade BD (SK Co.,
Korea) was purified by passing it through columns of Fisher
RIDOXTM catalyst and molecular sieve 5 Å/13×. Alkylaluminums
such as MAO, ethylaluminum sesquichloride (EASC), methylalu-
minum dichloride (MADC) and diethylaluminum chloride (DEAC),
all in a toluene solution, were obtained from Aldrich and used with-
out further purification. All other chemicals were obtained from
Aldrich and used without further purification unless otherwise
mentioned.
2.3.3. 2,6-Bis(1ꢀ-benzylbenzimidazol-2ꢀ-yl)pyridine cobalt(II)
chloride (3c)
Procedure similar for 3a was adopted, compound 2c (0.50 g,
1.01 mmol) and CoCl2·6H2O (0.24 g, 1.01 mmol) yielding 0.55 g
(88%) of green solid. Elemental analysis for C33H25N5CoCl2, calcd:
C 63.78, H 4.05, N 11.27 found: C 64.17, H 4.10, N 11.32. FAB-MS
(m/z): 587 [M−Cl]+.
Elemental analysis of metal complexes was carried out
using Vario EL analyzer. Fast atom bombardment mass spec-
troscopy (FAB-MS) was determined using JMS-700, JEOL
instrument. The experimental detail of single crystal anal-
ysis is as follows. The crystal was picked up with Paraton
N oil and mounted on a Bruker SMART CCD diffractometer
equipped with a graphite-monochromated Mo K␣ (ꢀ = 0.71073 Å)
2.4. Polymerization procedure
Solution polymerizations of BD in toluene were carried out in
a glass reactor (40 mL) connected with a vacuum line. A typical
polymerization procedure is as follows. 2.5 ␮mol of the precata-
lyst 3a was dissolved in 19.45 mL of toluene. After regulating the
temperature of reaction mixture to 30 ◦C, 0.757 g of BD (to make
0.7 M solution) was equilibrated to toluene. The polymerization
started by injecting 0.55 mL of EASC (Al/Co = 400) to the solution.
For the facile agitation of the reaction mixture by preventing a
sharp increase of viscosity due to high yield and possible crosslink
reactions, the polymerization time was controlled to 10 min. The
resulting solution mixture was poured into acidified methanol
(100 mL of a 5% (v/v) solution of HCl) containing butylhydroxy-
toluene as stabilizer. The precipitated polymer was isolated by
filtration, washed with methanol, and then dried overnight at 50 ◦C
under vacuum. Polymer yield was determined by gravimetry.
radiation source and
a
nitrogen cold stream (−100 ◦C). The
data were corrected for Lorentz and polarization effects
(SAINT), and semiempirical absorption corrections based on
equivalent reflections were applied (SADABS). The structure
was solved by direct methods and refined by full-matrix
least-squares on F2 (SHELXTL). All the non-hydrogen atoms
were refined anisotropically, and hydrogen atoms were
added to their geometrically ideal positions. The crystal
data for 3c has been deposited at Cambridge Crystallo-
graphic Data Center with number CCDC 747967. The data
can be obtained free of charge from the Cambridge Crystal-
lographic Data Center through http://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/
data request/cif.
2.2. Synthesis of ligands (Scheme 1)
2.5. Polymer characterization
The syntheses of ligands and Co(II) complexes are summarized
in Scheme 1. The 2,6-bis(benzimidazolyl)pyridine ligands, 1, 2a and
2b were prepared according to the reported procedures [27,29].
Molecular weight (MW) and molecular weight distribution
(MWD) of PBDs were determined by gel permeation chromatogra-
phy (GPC) using a Waters 2414 series system fitted with a refractive

86
V. Appukuttan et al. / Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical 325 (2010) 84–90
The bond distance from cobalt atom to the basal chlorine atom
(Co(1)–Cl(2) 2.283 Å (4)) is shorter than that of the apical chlo-
rine atom (Co(1)–Cl(1) 2.324 Å (3)). The imidazole linkages have
formal double bond character, N(2)–C(4) 1.339 Å (10). The ligand
in molecular structure of the complex could be viewed as virtually
planar, consisting of two benzimidazole rings and a pyridine ring.
The benzimidazole rings makes a dihedral angle of 5.13◦ with the
plane consisting of pyridine ring, whereas the benzimidazole rings
are inclined by an angle of 1.04◦ between them. The phenyl rings are
inclined away from the benzimidazole along the apex of the square
pyramid in which N(3)–C(11)–C(12) bond angle is 114.2(6)◦.
3.2. Effect of catalyst structure on solution polymerization of BD
The catalysts were tested for solution polymerization of BD
employing toluene as a solvent. The polymerization time was lim-
ited to 10 min, keeping overall yield less than about 70%, for a
facile agitation to minimize the possibility of a network forma-
tion. The polymerization results obtained by cobalt complexes
3a–3c in combination with various alkylaluminums are summa-
rized in Table 1. The variation of electronic nature of the complexes
through the incorporation of alkyl groups on the N atom of the
imidazole influenced the polymerization behavior significantly.
Employing EASC as a cocatalyst, 3a with free –NH group is more
active than the methylated 3b and the activity of benzylated
3c is in between them (Table 1, Entries 1–3). During the acti-
vation with EASC, the –NH groups present on the complex can
be deprotonated to yield an anionic amide ligand. This anionic
amide ligand is in the form of an ion pair (N-anion and Al-cation)
or in the free form, resulting in higher polymerization activity
[29]. The lower activity of 3b/EASC catalyst might be explained
by the electron donating effect of methyl group which can pos-
sibly reduce the cationic nature of metal center resulting in a
weaker coordination of monomer. In 3c/EASC catalyst, the aryl
rings delocalize the electron on ligand making the metal center
more electropositive and hence a better activity. Similar electronic
effects of N-alkylation were observed in our previous report involv-
ing bis(benzimidazolyl)amine cobalt complexes[24]. On comparing
the BD polymerization nature of cobalt catalysts based on 2,6-
bis(imino)pyridines [19,22], the present catalyst system was found
be more active probably due to the presence of a wide opened
active site formed by a planar ligand structure with no adjacent
substituents.
The stereochemistry of the polymerization process was fol-
lowed by the microstructural analysis of polymers by NMR
spectroscopy [6,30]. Figs. 2 and 3 shows 1H NMR and 13C NMR
spectra, respectively, of a representative PBD sample obtained by
3a/EASC catalyst system (Entry 1 in Table 1). The catalysts with dif-
ferent ligand structure showed almost identical stereoselectivity
with the formation of about 97% of cis content when activated with
EASC, indicating the formation of identical active centers and the
structural variation imparted only electronic perturbation on active
center (vide supra). All the catalyst with different ligand structure
produced polymers with high Mws having distribution in the range
2.06–2.35 with EASC as cocatalyst. The effect of complex structure
on Mw was not so conspicuous, demonstrating the chain transfer
and/or termination reactions occur in similar way for all catalysts
combined with the same cocatalyst.
Fig. 1. ORTEP representation of complex 3c with 50% thermal ellipsoids. Hydrogen
atoms and oxygen atoms from water molecule are omitted for clarity. Selected bond
lengths [Å] and angles [◦]: Co(1)–N(2) 2.108(6), Co(1)–N(2)#1 2.108(6), Co(1)–N(1)
2.161(9), Co(1)–Cl(2) 2.283(4), Co(1)–Cl(1) 2.324(3), N(2)–C(4) 1.339(10),
N(2)–C(5) 1.381(10); N(2)–Co(1)–N(2)#1 144.5(4), N(2)–Co(1)–N(1) 74.39(19),
N(2)–Co(1)–Cl(2) 101.03(19), N(1)–Co(1)–Cl(2) 156.9(3), N(2)–Co(1)–Cl(1)
99.19(18), N(1)–Co(1)–Cl(1) 93.5(3), Cl(2)–Co(1)–Cl(1).
index detector in THF at 25 ◦C calibrated by polystyrene standards.
1H NMR (300 MHz) and 13C NMR (75 MHz) spectra were recorded
at 25 ◦C on a Varian Gemini 2000 spectrometer in CDCl3 containing
tetramethylsilane as standard. All chemical shifts are reported in
parts per million (ppm). The typical NMR chemical shifts for PBDs
are as follows: 1H NMR: ı = 4.8–5.2 ( CH2 of 1,2-BD unit), 5.2–5.8
(–CH of 1,4-BD unit and –CH of 1,2-BD unit). 13C NMR: ı = 27.4 (1,4-
cis BD unit), 32.7 (1,4-trans BD unit), 127.7–131.8 (1,4-BD unit),
113.8–114.8 and 143.3–144.7 (1,2-BD unit).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Synthesis and characterization of cobalt complexes
The 2,6-bis(benzimidazolyl)pyridine ligand 1 was prepared by
a condensation reaction of 1,2-phenylenediamine and pyridine-2,6
dicarboxylic acid. The ligands 2a and 2b were obtained in high
yields by N-alkylation with corresponding alkyl halides through
sodium salts of 1 [27,29]. Cobalt complexes 3a–3c were prepared in
good yields by the treatment of corresponding ligands with 1 equiv.
of CoCl2·6H2O in THF at room temperature (Scheme 1). The green
colored cobalt complexes were consistent with their elemental and
FAB-Mass analyses.
Single crystals of complex 3c suitable for X-ray diffraction
analysis were obtained from slow evaporation from a methano-
lic solution. The molecular structure and selected bond lengths and
angles of 3c are shown in Fig. 1 (see Supplementary data for detailed
crystallographic information). The geometry around the five coor-
dinated cobalt atom in 3c consists of a distorted square pyramid
ˆ ˆ
in which cobalt is surrounded by tridentate NNN ligand and two
chlorines. The equatorial plane is formed by the three nitrogen
atoms from bis(benzimidazolyl) ligand and one chlorine atom, and
the axial position is occupied by the second chlorine atom. The
cobalt atom is deviated from the equatorial plane by 0.429 Å. The
molecule has a plane of symmetry consisting of cobalt metal cen-
ter, two chlorines, N (pyridyl) and C (pyridyl) (the symmetrical
atoms in Fig. 1 are numbered with identical numerals preceded
by # sign). The two Co–N (benzimidazole) bonds are of identical
bond length (Co(1)–N(2) and Co(1)–N(2)#1 2.108 Å) and are shorter
than the Co–N (pyridyl) bond (Co(1)–N(1) 2.161 Å (9)) by 0.053 Å.
In transition metal catalyzed polymerization process, the cocat-
alyst plays a very important role. The active species present in
the polymerization process is established as cation–anion ion
pair formed through the activation of catalyst precursors by the
cocatalyst. The polymerization activity, molecular weight, stereo-
regulation, and chain transfer pathways are intimately connected
with the nature of the ion pairing [31]. Thus a judicial selec-
tion of cocatalyst is of prime importance in designing the product

V. Appukuttan et al. / Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical 325 (2010) 84–90
87
Table 1
Polymerizations of 1,3-butadiene over various cobalt complexes of the general formula: [Py(Bm-R)2]CoCl2, Py = pyridyl, Bm = benzimidazolyl, 3a (R = H); 3b (R = –CH3); 3c
(R = –CH2C6H5) combined with various organoaluminum cocatalystsa.
c
c
Entry
Cat.
Cocat.b
Yield (%)
Mn (×10−5
)
Mw/Mn
Microstructure (%)d
1,4-cis
1,4-trans
1,2-
1
2
3
4
5
6
3a
EASC
EASC
EASC
MAO
MADC
DEAC
55.1
39.7
45.1
3.1
Trace
21.1
1.75
2.12
2.03
0.50
–
2.35
2.06
2.27
1.50
–
96.6
94.7
95.8
95.1
–
1.7
2.1
1.9
3.8
–
1.7
3.2
2.3
1.1
–
3b
3c
3a
3a
3a
0.17
1.51
79.3
13.6
7.1
a
Polymerization conditions: catalyst = 2.5 ␮mol, [Al]/[Co] = 400, [BD] = 0.7 M, total reaction volume including toluene = 20 mL, time = 10 min, and temperature = 30 ◦C.
Organoaluminum cocatalysts: EASC = ethylaluminum sesquichloride; MAO = methylaluminoxane; MADC = methylaluminum dichloride; and DEAC = diethylaluminum
b
chloride.
c
Measured by GPC.
d
Measured by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopies.
architecture. To evaluate the influence of the catalyst structure,
BD polymerizations were done employing different cocatalysts.
Among cocatalysts chosen, EASC is the most efficient one, and
3a/EASC catalyst produced PBD with a conversion of 55.1%. The
effectiveness of the other cocatalysts combined with 3a complex
decreases in the order of DEAC (21.1%) > MAO (3.2%) > MADC (trace).
Since the active species exist as ion pairs, relatively smaller size of
DEAC and MADC might make the ion pair much tighter, resulting
in lower or negligible activity. But choice of cocatalyst significantly
affected MW of polymers, 3a/DEAC and 3a/MAO catalysts pro-
duced polymer with much lower MW than 3a/EASC possibly due
to structural change of actual catalytic species imparted by dif-
ferent co activators. The PBDs produced through 3a/MAO catalyst
was found to have similar microstructure with that of 3a/EASC,
while 3a/DEAC produces polymers with significantly higher con-
tents trans (13.6) and 1,2-inserted isomer (7.1) and consequently
much lower amount of cis isomer (79.3%).
The mechanism involving the polymerization of conjugated
diolefin is more complicatedly diverse and perplexing than that of
␣-olefin. Regardless of central atom, an almost identical polymer-
ization mechanism has been proposed for nearby all catalytically
active species [1,2,32]. In our previous reports involving cobalt
complexes, we have discussed the possible reaction pathways
involving in the cis stereoregulation by Co metal center [20,24].
Polymerization results indicate operation of similar reaction modes
in the present catalyst system. The spatial arrangement of Co orbital
and energetics favors a cis-␩4 mode of coordination with incoming
BD monomer [33]. This monomer inserts into the growing chain
forming ␩3-allyl coordinated terminal group which takes prefer-
ably an anti-conformation which in turn leads to cis stereoregulated
growing polymer chain. The anti-conformer could also isomerize
to a thermodynamically more stable syn and consequently form-
ing trans product. Recent experimental and theoretical studies of
Ni and Co catalysts inferred the existence of back-biting coordi-
nation of the double bond of the penultimate inserted monomer
of growing polymer chain. This makes the anti–syn isomerization
energetically demanding as it involves conformational rearrange-
ment of the last monomeric unit of the polymer chain, making the
process highly cis stereoselective [34,35]. But in the case of DEAC
due to the increased formation of trans- and 1,2-inserted isomers
probably due to a different active center in relation with 3a/EASC
coupled with a lower kinetics favoring the thermodynamic product.
Fig. 2. 1H NMR spectrum of the polybutadiene (Entry
sized by 2,6-bis(benzimidazol-2-yl)-pyridine Co(II) chloride (3a)/ethylaluminum
sesquichloride (EASC) catalyst.
1 in Table 1) synthe-
3.3. Kinetics aspects of BD polymerization
The kinetic profile was examined by performing a series of
BD polymerizations using 3a/EASC catalyst system ([Al/Co] = 400)
at 30 ◦C. The plot of polymer yield with polymerization time is
depicted in Fig. 4. The polymerization rate increases very fast in
Fig. 3. 13C NMR spectrum of the polybutadiene (Entry 1 in Table 1) synthe-
sized by 2,6-bis(benzimidazol-2-yl)-pyridine Co(II) chloride (3a)/ethylaluminum
sesquichloride (EASC) catalyst.

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V. Appukuttan et al. / Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical 325 (2010) 84–90
tion: i.e. Rp = kp[C*][BD], where Rp is a rate of polymerization, kp
is a rate constant of propagation, and [C*] is an active site con-
centration. The polymerization results are shown in Table 2. The
stereoregularity of the polymers remains almost constant for the
entire polymerization time, indicating identical nature of active
centers. The MW of the polymers increases with conversion and
the polydispersity is inclined to be increased at the longer poly-
merization time, most probably due to the crosslinking reactions
activated at high conversion.
Along with the kinetic study, we have performed a series of
reactions by varying parameters such as monomer concentration,
cocatalyst amount, and reaction temperature, so as to investigate
the effectofpolymerization condition on catalytic activityand poly-
mer microstructure. The 3a/EASC catalyst system was chosen for
the study and the results are summarized in Table 3. On increasing
the initial monomer concentration from 0.3 to 1.0 M, the activ-
ity increases steadily with monomer concentration showing a first
order dependency of polymerization rate on the initial monomer
concentration and so does the MW of the polymer. This is in accor-
dance with polymerization results from the kinetic study. The
higher rate of polymerization can lead to higher MW, as the degree
of polymerization is determined by the ratio of propagation and ter-
mination rates [36]. The stereoregularity of the polymers remains
almost consistent within our experimental range. Even though no
conspicuous variation of stereoregularity is marked according to
[Al/Co] ratio, both activity and MW change considerably according
to [Al/Co] ratio. The activity of the catalyst increases as the [Al]/[Co]
ratio increases from 50 to 400, and it decreases at high [Al/Co] ratio
(800), as usually observed in transition metal catalyzed olefin poly-
merizations combined with alkylaluminum cocatalysts. However,
Fig. 4. The plots of polymer yield (ꢀ) and ln[BD]0/[BD]t (᭹) against polymerization
time for BD polymerization by 2,6-bis(benzimidazol-2-yl)-pyridine Co(II) chlo-
ride (3a)/ethylaluminum sesquichloride (EASC) catalyst. Polymerization conditions:
catalyst = 2.5 ␮mol, [Al]/[Co] = 400, [BD] = 0.7 M, total reaction volume including
toluene = 20 mL, temperature = 30 ◦C.
the initial stages of polymerization (∼10 min) and then gradually
to 60 min, achieving almost completes conversion of BD. A good lin-
ear relationship in the plots, ln[BD]0/[BD]t versus polymerization
time, where [BD]0 and [BD]t are initial monomer concentration and
the monomer concentration at time t, respectively, indicates a first
order dependency of polymerization rate on monomer concentra-
Table 2
Effect of polymerization time on the of 1,3-butadiene (BD) polymerizations by 2,6-bis(benzimidazol-2-yl)-pyridine cobalt(II) chloride (3a)/ethylaluminum sesquichloride
(EASC) catalysta.
b
b
Entry
Time (min)
Yield (%)
Mn (×10−5
)
Mw/Mn
Microstructure (%)c
1,4-cis
1,4-trans
1,2-
1
2
3
4
5
6
2
3
5
10
20
60
3.7
11.7
23.8
55.1
74.7
98.6
0.21
0.37
1.20
1.75
1.81
1.57
1.62
1.73
1.77
2.35
2.84
3.86
98.3
97.8
97.3
96.6
96.1
95.7
1.4
1.6
1.4
1.7
2.0
3.0
0.3
0.6
1.3
1.7
1.9
1.5
a
Polymerization conditions: catalyst = 2.5 ␮mol, [Al]/[Co] = 400, [BD] = 0.7 M, total reaction volume including toluene = 20 mL and temperature = 30 ◦C.
b
c
Measured by GPC.
Measured by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopies.
Table 3
Effect of various parameters on the polymerizations of 1,3-butadiene by 2,6-bis(benzimidazol-2-yl)-pyridine Co(II) chloride (3a)/ethylaluminum sesquichloride (EASC)
catalysta.
T (◦C)
Yield (%)
Mn (×10−5
b
)
Mw/Mn
Microstructurec
b
Entry
[Al/Co]
[BD]
1,4-cis
1,4-trans
1,2-
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
400
400
400
400
400
50
100
200
800
400
400
400
400
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.7
1.0
0.7
0.7
0.7
0.7
0.7
0.7
0.7
0.7
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
0
37.1
43.3
48.3
55.1
58.7
8.1
38.1
49.7
43.7
–
0.44
1.14
1.34
1.75
2.59
0.88
1.36
1.54
1.59
–
1.73
1.60
1.87
2.35
2.36
1.40
2.15
2.61
2.46
–
97.7
97.2
97.6
96.6
96.1
96.9
96.1
96.4
95.9
–
1.7
1.6
1.4
1.7
2.1
1.8
1.6
2.2
2.7
–
0.4
1.2
1.0
1.7
1.8
0.3
0.4
1.4
1.3
–
50
70
90
80.1
75.5
47.4
0.79
0.50
0.33
3.01
5.21
3.80
94.1
87.3
78.6
5.7
12.2
20.4
0.2
0.9
1.4
a
Polymerization conditions: catalyst = 2.5 ␮mol, total reaction volume including toluene = 20 mL, and time = 10 min.
b
c
Measured by GPC.
Measured by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopies.

V. Appukuttan et al. / Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical 325 (2010) 84–90
89
cocatalyst, the stereospecificity was almost identical, but relatively
higher percentage of trans insertion occurred while DEAC was used.
The structural variation of catalyst through N-alkylation affects
the activity most probably due to the electronic effect imposed
on the active centers, while the stereospecificity remains almost
unaffected. Kinetic study revealed a first order dependency of the
polymerization rate on the initial monomer concentration. Of the
various reaction parameters studied, temperature affected both the
activity and more importantly the microstructure of the formed
PBD. The extend of formation 1,4-trans inserted unit increased with
increase in polymerization temperature possibly through a facili-
tated anti–syn isomerization. The catalytic system was also found
to show considerable thermal stability, even yielding about 50%
conversion at 90 ◦C.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank H.J. Lee of KBSI, Jeonju Center for assistance
with X-ray crystallographic analysis. This work was financially
supported by the World Class University Program (No. R32-2008-
000-10174-0). The authors are also grateful to the BK 21 Project,
and the National Core Research Center Program from MEST and
KOSEF (R15-2006-022-01002-0).
Fig. 5. Microstructure of polybutadienes produced by 2,6-bis(benzimidazol-2-yl)-
pyridine Co(II) chloride (3a)/ethylaluminum sesquichloride (EASC) catalyst at dif-
ferent temperatures. Polymerization conditions: catalyst = 2.5 ␮mol, [Al]/[Co] = 400,
[BD] = 0.7 M, total reaction volume including toluene = 20 mL, time = 10 min.
the trend of MW according to [Al]/[Co] ratio infers that chain trans-
fer to aluminum is not significant for BD polymerization as in the
case of olefin polymerizations.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in
the online version, at doi:10.1016/j.molcata.2010.04.002.
The BD polymerization behavior by 3a/EASC catalyst was highly
sensitive to polymerization temperature. The catalyst system was
inactive at 0 ◦C and the optimum activity is achieved at 50 ◦C with
80.1% conversion. Even though there was decrease in polymeriza-
tion rate at higher temperature which is common in late transition
metalcatalyzedpolymerization, thepresent catalytic systemshows
remarkable thermal stability yielding 75.5% conversion at 70 ◦C
and even a conversion of about 50% at 90 ◦C. The MW of poly-
mer decreases sequentially with an increase of temperature most
probably due to facilitated chain transfer reactions at elevated tem-
perature. But the most distinct feature of temperature study was
in the variation of polymer microstructure with temperature. The
extent of formation of trans isomer increased with polymerization
temperature at the expense of cis isomer at high temperature, pro-
ducing 20.4% trans isomer at 90 ◦C and thereby reducing cis content
to 78.6% (Fig. 5). But the composition of 1,2-inserted isomer in the
polymer did not show any marked deviation. The increased forma-
tion of trans content at elevated temperatures may be due to the
facilitated anti–syn isomerization, as the energy requirement may
be supplied by the higher polymerization temperature [35,36].
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90
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