Bulky polyaromatic fluorocarbons: Main group complexes and their application as weakly coordinating anions

A family of novel perfluorinated polyaromatic amines were designed to serve as ligands in main group metal-based weakly coordinating anions. The synthesis of these ligands explored the limits of perfluoroarylamine organic chemistry, including the behaviour of nitrogen-based perfluoroaryl anions in solution. The coordination chemistry of these ligands was evaluated by their ability to coordinate to aluminum via different bonding modes, including chelating and non-chelating.;An anion derived from these ligands has been shown to be weakly coordinating under different conditions and with a host of counterions. Ion pairs containing this weakly coordinating anion have been characterized in the solution and solid states to probe the coordinative ability of the anion. Specifically, cations containing group IV transition metals were synthesized and characterized to assess the ability of this weakly coordinating anion to serve as a counterion in olefin polymerization catalysts. A preliminary polymerization study was conducted to investigate the ability of activators based on this anion as co-catalysts in preparation for further testing in an industrial setting.