Cyclopenta[b]fluorenyl transition metal compound, catalyst composition containing the same, and method of preparing ethylene homopolymer or copolymer of ethylene and alpha-olefin using the same

1. A method of preparing an ethylene homopolymer or a copolymer of ethylene and α-olefin by contacting a transition metal compound represented by Chemical Formula 1 below; a cocatalyst selected from an aluminum compound, a boron compound, and a mixture thereof; and

ethylene, or ethylene and α-olefin comonomers; in the presence of an organic solvent;

wherein in Chemical Formula 1, M is a Group 4 transition metal in the Periodic Table of Elements;

n is an integer of 1 or 2, each R 1 may be the same or different when n is 2;

R 1 is hydrogen, (C1-C50)alkyl, halo(C1-C50)alkyl, (C3-C50)cycloalkyl, (C6-C30)aryl, (C6-C30)aryl(C1-C50)alkyl, ((C1-C50)alkyl(C6-C30)aryl)(C1-C50)alkyl, —NR a R b , —SiR c R d R e , or 5- through 7-membered N-heterocycloalkyl containing at least one nitrogen atom;

R 2 and R 3 each are independently hydrogen, (C1-C50)alkyl, (C1-C50)alkoxy, halo(C1-C50)alkyl, (C3-C50)cycloalkyl, (C6-C30)aryl, (C6-C30)aryloxy, (C1-C50)alkyl(C6-C30)aryloxy, (C6-C30)aryl(C1-C50)alkyl, ((C1-C50)alkyl(C6-C30)aryl)(C1-C50)alkyl, —NR a R b or —SiR c R d R e ;

R 4 , R 5 , R 10 , R 11 and R 12 each are independently (C1-C50)alkyl, halo(C1-C50)alkyl, (C3-C50)cycloalkyl, (C6-C30)aryl, (C6-C30)aryl(C1-C50)alkyl, ((C1-C50)alkyl(C6-C30)aryl (C1-C50)alkyl, —NR a R b , or —SiR c R d R e , and R 11 and R 12 may be linked via (C4-C7)alkylene to form a ring;

R 6 , R 7 , R 8 and R 9 each are independently hydrogen, (C1-C50)alkyl, halo(C1-C50)alkyl, (C3-C50)cycloalkyl, (C1-C50)alkoxy, (C6-C30)aryl, (C6-C30)aryl(C1-C50)alkyl, ((C1-C50)alkyl(C6-C30)aryl)(C1-C50)alkyl, (C6-C30)aryloxy, (C1-C50)alkyl(C6-C30)aryloxy, N-carbazolyl, —NR a R b , or —SiR c R d R e , or may be linked to an adjacent substituent via (C1-C5)alkylene to form a ring, and at least one —CH 2 — of the alkylene may be substituted by a hetero atom selected from —O—, —S—, and —NR′—, and the alkylene may be further substituted with (C1-C50)alkyl;

aryl of R 1 to R 12 may be further substituted with at least one substituent selected from the group consisting of (C1-C50)alkyl, halo(C1-C50)alkyl, (C1-C50)alkoxy, (C6-C30) aryloxy, (C6-C30)aryl, (C1-C50)alkyl(C6-C30)aryl, and (C6-C30)aryl(C1-C50)alkyl;

R′ and R a to R e each are independently (C1-C50)alkyl or (C6-C30)aryl; and

X 1 and X 2 each are independently halogen, (C1-C50)alkyl, (C2-C50)alkenyl, (C3-C50)cycloalkyl, (C6-C30)aryl, (C6-C30)aryl(C1-C50)alkyl, ((C1-C50)alkyl(C6-C30)aryl)(C1-C50)alkyl, (C1-C50)alkoxy, (C6-C30)aryloxy, (C1-C50)alkyl(C6-C30)aryloxy, (C1-C50)alkoxy (C6-C30)aryloxy, (C1-C50)alkylidene, —OSiR f R g R h , —SR i , —NR 3 R k or —PR 1 R m ;

R f to R i each are independently (C1-C50)alkyl, (C6-C30)aryl, (C3-C50)cycloalkyl; and

R j to R m each are independently (C1-C50)alkyl, (C6-C30)aryl, (C6-C30)aryl(C1-C50)alkyl, (C3-C50)cycloalkyl, tri(C1-C50)alkylsilyl, or tri(C6-C30)arylsilyl,

to form an ethylene homopolymer or a copolymer of ethylene and α-olefin.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the α-olefin polymerized with the ethylene is at least one selected from propylene, 1-butene, 1-pentene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, 1-hexene, 1-heptene, 1-octene, 1-decene, 1-undecene, 1-dodecene, 1-tetradecene, 1-hexadecene, 1-octadecene, 1-itocene, cyclopentene, cyclohexene, norbornene, phenylnorbornene, styrene, α-methylstyrene, p-methylstyrene, and 3-chloromethylstyrene, and the ethylene has a content of 30 to 99 wt % in the copolymer of ethylene and α-olefin.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein a pressure in a reactor for ethylene homopolymerization or copolymerization of ethylene monomers and α-olefin is 1˜1000 atm, and a polymerization reaction temperature is 25˜200° C.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the pressure in the reactor for ethylene homopolymerization or copolymerization of ethylene monomers and α-olefin is 6˜150 atm, and the polymerization reaction temperature is 50˜180° C.