CHED 1203 |
| From previous calculations conducted by Das et al. at Cameron University, it was shown that placing electron-withdrawing groups onto the cyclopentadienyl ligands coordinated to zirconium would significantly increase the activation barrier for propagation and lower the activation barrier for termination. The calculations show the possibility of designing a catalyst that could be used to produce varying types of oligomeric to high-molecular weight polyethylene. The present research involves the synthesis and characterization of zirconocene complexes containing cyclopentadienyl ligands with electron-withdrawing substituents. The two compounds of interest are bis(pentachlorocyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride and bis(pentabromocyclopentadienyl)zirconium dibromide. These complexes will be compared to other zirconocene catalytic analogs to experimentally determine the efficacy of this catalyst toward ethylene polymerization. These results will determine future exploration toward synthesizing other zirconocene dichloride analogs containing electron-withdrawing groups and their catalytic activities. |
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Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Inorganic Chemistry
2:00 PM-4:00 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster
Division of Chemical Education |