The oligomerisation of ethene with catalysts exhibiting enzyme-like activities

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/0022-328X(89)87058-5

The catalytic oligomerisation of ethene at about room temperature and one atmosphere of ethene by a series of catalysts derived from Ni(sacsac)PR3Cl (sacsac^-=C5H7S2^-=pentane-2,4-dithionate anion) is described.The catalytic activities and selectivities are shown to be dependent on the phosphine ligand and the reaction temperature.Activities of the order of 4x10⁶ mol of ethene converted per mol of nickel per h (>1000 s^-1) are reported.The catalysts are quite long-lived, more than 2x10⁷ g of products can be produced per mol of nickel.