Electrochemical Synthesis of Zirconium Pre-Catalysts for Homogeneous Ethylene Oligomerization

The catalytic activity of electrochemically synthesized zirconium carboxylates was studied in the process of ethylene oligomerization. Zirconium carboxylates were electrochemically synthesized directly from metallic zirconium and corresponding carboxylic acids (acetic, octanoic and lauric). A comprehensive study (element analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD)) of the synthesized zirconium carboxylates showed that these species contain bidentate carboxylate moieties. It was shown that obtained zirconium carboxylates, in combination with Et 3Al 2Cl 3 (Al/Zr = 20), have a moderate activity of (7.6–9.9) × 10 3 mol C2H4？mol Zr ？1？h ？1 in terms of ethylene oligomerization (at T = 80 °C, p = 20 bar), leading to even-numbered C 4–C 10 linear alpha-olefins. View Full-Tex