Dizinc Lactide Polymerization Catalysts: Hyperactivity by Control of Ligand Conformation and Metallic Cooperativity

Abstract

Understanding how to moderate and improve catalytic activity is critical to improving degradable polymer production. Here, di- and monozinc catalysts, coordinated by bis(imino)diphenylamido ligands, show remarkable activities and allow determination of the factors controlling performance. In most cases, the dizinc catalysts significantly out-perform the monozinc analogs. Further, for the best dizinc catalyst, the ligand conformation controls activity: the catalyst with “folded” ligand conformation shows turnover frequency (TOF) values up to 60 000 h−1(0.1 mol % loading, 298 K, [LA]=1 m), whilst that with a “planar” conformation is much slower, under similar conditions (TOF=30 h−1). Dizinc catalysts also perform very well under immortal conditions, showing improved control, and are able to tolerate loadings as low as 0.002 mol % whilst conserving high activity (TOF=12 500 h−1).