Ethylene trimerization with a half-sandwich titanium complex bearing a pendant thienyl groupElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: syntheses of compounds 1 and 2. See http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/cc/b3/b309749h/

Abstract

A half-sandwich titanium complex with a pendant thienyl group, activated by methylalumoxane (MAO), can trimerize ethylene to 1-hexene with considerable activity and high selectivity; the coodination of the sulfur atom to the titanium center is proposed to be responsible for the selective trimerization of ethylene.