The Effect of the Electronic Nature of Spectator Ligands in the C–H Bond Activation of Ethylene by Cr(III) Silicates: An ab initio Study

Abstract

The Phillips catalyst, chromium oxides supported on silica, is one of the most widely used catalysts for the industrial production of polyethylene (PE). We recently synthesized a well-defined mononuclear Cr(III) silicate as active site model of the Phillips catalyst. The catalytic activity of this well-defined catalyst was similar to the industrial Phillips catalyst. We proposed that C–H bond activation of ethylene over a Cr–O bond initiates polymerization in this Cr(III) catalyst. Our results also showed that the presence of a second ethylene olefin in the coordination sphere of Cr decreases the intrinsic energy barrier of the C–H activation of ethylene. In order to understand the effect of this additional ligand in the C–H activation of ethylene by the Cr(III) catalyst, we evaluated the energetics of this step with different spectator ligands (C₂H₄, C₂F₄, N₂ and CO) coordinated to the Cr center. The Charge Decomposition Analysis (CDA) of the bonding interactions between the Cr(III) catalyst and the ligands showed that the intrinsic energy barrier for the C–H activation of ethylene decreases with the increasing electron-donor properties of the spectator ligand.