(Imido)vanadium Complexes as Efficient Catalyst Precursors for Olefin Polymerization/Oligomerization

(Arylimido)vanadium(V) complexes containing anionic ancillary donor ligands of type, V(NAr)Cl2(L) (Ar = 2,6-Me2C6H3, L = aryloxo, ketimide phenoxyimine, etc.) exhibited high catalytic activities for ethylene polymerization in the presence of Al cocatalyst; V(NAr)Cl2(O-2,6-Me2C6H3) showed the exceptionally high activities in the presence of halogenated Al alkyls such as Et2AlCl, EtAlCl2, etc. (Arylimido)vanadium(V)-alkylidene complexes, V(CHSiMe3)(NAr)(L′) (L′ = N=CtBu2, O-2,6-iPr2C6H3) exhibited the remarkable catalytic activities for ring-opening metathesis polymerization of norbornene. (Imido)vanadium(V) complexes containing the (2-anilidomethyl)pyridine ligand, V(NR)Cl2[2-Ar′NCH2(C5H4N)] (R = 1-adamantyl, cyclohexyl, phenyl, Ar′ = 2,6-Me2C6H3, 2,6-iPr2C6H3), exhibit the remarkable activities for ethylene dimerization in the presence of MAO, affording 1-butene exclusively (selectivity 90.4 to >99%). The steric bulk of the imido ligand plays an important role in the selectivity, and the electronic nature directly affects the activity.