Group 4 metal complexes containing 4-aryl-substituted, tricyclic indenyl derivatives

1. A metal complex corresponding to the formula (I):

where M is titanium, zirconium or hafnium in the +2, +3 or +4 formal oxidation state;

R′ independently each occurrence is hydride, hydrocarbyl, silyl, germyl, halide, hydrocarbyloxy, hydrocarbylsiloxy, hydrocarbylsilylamino, di(hydrocarbyl)amino, hydrocarbyleneamino, di(hydrocarbyl)phosphino, hydrocarbylene-phosphino, hydrocarbylsulfido, halo-substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyloxy-substituted hydrocarbyl, silyl-substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbylsiloxy-substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbylsilylamino-substituted hydrocarbyl, di(hydrocarbyl)amino-substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyleneamino-substituted hydrocarbyl, di(hydrocarbyl)phosphino-substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbylene-phosphino-substituted hydrocarbyl, or hydrocarbylsulfido-substituted hydrocarbyl, said R′ group having up to 40 nonhydrogen atoms, and optionally two or more of the foregoing groups may together form a divalent derivative;

R″ independently each occurrence is a C 6-12 aryl group;

R′″ is a divalent hydrocarbylene- or substituted hydrocarbylene group forming a fused system with the remainder of the metal complex, said R′″ containing from 1 to 30 nonhydrogen atoms;

Z is a divalent moiety, or a moiety comprising one σ-bond and a neutral two electron pair able to form a coordinate-covalent bond to M, said Z comprising boron, or a member of Group 14 of the Periodic Table of the Elements, and also comprising nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur or oxygen;

X is a monovalent anionic ligand group having up to 60 atoms exclusive of the class of ligands that are cyclic, delocalized, π-bound ligand groups;

X′ independently each occurrence is a neutral ligating compound having up to 20 atoms;

X″ is a divalent anionic ligand group having up to 60 atoms;

p is zero, 1, 2, or 3;

q is zero, 1 or 2, and

r is zero or 1.

2. The metal complex of claim 1 corresponding to the formula (II):

where M is titanium, zirconium or hafnium in the +2, +3 or +4 formal oxidation state;

R a independently each occurrence is hydrogen, C 1-10 alkyl, aralkyl or cycloalkyl, preferably methyl or benzyl;

R b is a C 6-12 aryl group;

R c independently each occurrence is hydrogen, C 1-6 alkyl, or cycloalkyl, preferably each occurrence R c is hydrogen;

Z is a divalent moiety, or a moiety comprising one σ-bond and a neutral two electron pair able to form a coordinate-covalent bond to M, said Z comprising boron, or a member of Group 14 of the Periodic Table of the Elements, and also comprising nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur or oxygen;

X is a monovalent anionic ligand group having up to 60 atoms exclusive of the class of ligands that are cyclic, delocalized, π-bound ligand groups;

X′ independently each occurrence is a neutral ligating compound having up to 20 atoms;

X″ is a divalent anionic ligand group having up to 60 atoms;

p is zero, 1, 2, or 3;

q is zero, 1 or 2, and

r is zero or 1.

3. The metal complex of claim 2 corresponding to the formula:

wherein:

A R is phenyl or naphthalenyl;

R a is methyl or benzyl;

M is titanium;

Y is —O—, —S—, —NR*—, —PR*—; —NR 2 *, or —PR 2 *;

Z* is SiR* 2 , CR* 2 , SiR* 2 SiR* 2 , CR* 2 CR* 2 , CR*═CR*, CR* 2 SiR* 2 , or GeR* 2 ;

R* each occurrence is independently hydrogen, or a member selected from hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyloxy, silyl, halogenated alkyl, halogenated aryl, and combinations thereof, said R* having up to 24 non-hydrogen atoms, and optionally, two R* groups from Z (when R* is not hydrogen), or an R* group from Z and an R* group from Y form a ring system;

X, X′ and X″ are as previously defined in claim 2 ;

p is 0, 1 or 2;

q is zero or 1; and

r is zero or 1; and

when p is 2, q and r are zero, M is in the +4 formal oxidation state (or M is in the +3 formal oxidation state if Y is —NR* 2 or —PR* 2 ), and X is an anionic ligand selected from the group consisting of halide, hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyloxy, di(hydrocarbyl)amido, di(hydrocarbyl)phosphido, hydrocarbylsulfido, and silyl groups, as well as halo-, di(hydrocarbyl)amino-, hydrocarbyloxy-, and di(hydrocarbyl)phosphino-substituted derivatives thereof, said X group having up to 30 nonhydrogen atoms,

when r is 1, p and q are zero, M is in the +4 formal oxidation state, and X″ is a dianionic ligand selected from the group consisting of hydrocarbadiyl, oxyhydrocarbyl, and hydrocarbylenedioxy groups, said X group having up to 30 nonhydrogen atoms,

when p is 1, q and r are zero, M is in the +3 formal oxidation state, and X is a stabilizing anionic ligand group selected from the group consisting of allyl, 2-(N,N-dimethylamino)phenyl, 2-(N,N-dimethylaminomethyl)phenyl, and 2-(N,N-dimethylamino)benzyl, and

when p and r are zero, q is 1, M is in the +2 formal oxidation state, and X′ is a neutral, conjugated or nonconjugated diene, optionally substituted with one or more hydrocarbyl groups, said X′ having up to 40 carbon atoms and forming a π-complex with M.

4. The metal complex of claim 3 which is:

dichloro[N-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-1,1-dimethyl-[1,2,3,3a,8a-η)-1,5,6,7-tetrahydro-2-methyl-4-phenyl-s-indacen-1-yl]silanaminato(2-)-N] titanium,

[N-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-1,1-dimethyl-[1,2,3,3a,8a-η)-1,5,6,7-tetrahydro-2-methyl-4-phenyl-s-indacen-1-yl]silanaminato(2-)-N] titanium dimethyl;

dichloro[N-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-1,1-dimethyl-[1,2,3,3a,8a-η)-1,5,6,7-tetrahydro-2-methyl-4-(1-naphthalenyl)-s-indacen-1-yl]silanaminato(2-)-N] titanium, or

[N-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-1,1-dimethyl-[1,2,3,3a,8a-η)-1,5,6,7-tetrahydro-2-methyl-4-(1-naphthalenyl)-s-indacen-1-yl]silanaminato(2-)-N] titanium dimethyl.

5. A process for the polymerization of olefins comprising contacting one or more olefins under polymerization conditions with a catalyst composition comprising one or more metal complexes of any one of claims 1 – 4 .

6. A process according to claim 5 wherein ethylene and one or more C 3-8 α-olefins or styrene and optionally a conjugated or non-conjugated diene are polymerized.