Catalyst systems for olefin polymerization

1. A catalyst system comprising the reaction product of a metal-ligand complex of formula (I):

wherein:

M is titanium, zirconium, or hafnium, each independently being in a formal oxidation state of +2, +3, or +4; and n is an integer of from 0 to 3, and wherein when n is 0, X is absent; and each X independently is a monodentate ligand that is neutral, monoanionic, or dianionic; or two Xs are taken together to form a bidentate ligand that is neutral, monoanionic, or dianionic; and X and n are chosen in such a way that the metal-ligand complex of formula (I) is, overall, neutral; and each Z independently is O, S, N(C 1 -C 40 )hydrocarbyl, or P(C 1 -C 40 )hydrocarbyl; and L is (C 3 -C 40 )hydrocarbylene or (C 3 -C 40 )heterohydrocarbylene, wherein the (C 3 -C 40 )hydrocarbylene has a portion that comprises a 3-carbon atom to 10-carbon atom linker backbone linking the Z atoms in formula (I) (to which L is bonded) and the (C 3 -C 40 )heterohydrocarbylene has a portion that comprises a 3-atom to 10-atom linker backbone linking the Z atoms in formula (I), wherein each of the 3 to 10 atoms of the 3-atom to 10-atom linker backbone of the (C 3 -C 40 )heterohydrocarbylene independently is a carbon atom or heteroatom, wherein each heteroatom independently is O, S, S(O), S(O) 2 , Si(R C ) 2 , Ge(R C ) 2 , P(R P ), or N(R N ), wherein independently each R C is (C 1 -C 30 )hydrocarbyl, each R P is (C 1 -C 30 )hydrocarbyl; and each R N is (C 1 -C 30 )hydrocarbyl or absent; and

R 1-24 are selected from the group consisting of a (C 1 -C 40 )hydrocarbyl, (C 1 -C 40 )heterohydrocarbyl, Si(R C ) 3 , Ge(R C ) 3 , P(R P ) 2 , N(R N ) 2 , OR C , SR C , NO 2 , CN, CF 3 , R C S(O)—, R C S(O) 2 —, (R C ) 2 C═N—, R C C(O)O—, R C OC(O)—, R C C(O)N(R)—, (R C ) 2 NC(O)—, halogen atom, hydrogen atom, and combination thereof; and, wherein at least R 1 , R 16 , or both comprise of formula (II),

wherein at least one of R 22 or R 19 is H, and when R 22 is H, then R 19 is a (C 1 -C 40 )hydrocarbyl; (C 1 -C 40 )heterohydrocarbyl; Si(R C ) 3 , Ge(R C ) 3 , P(R P ) 2 , N(R N ) 2 , OR C , SR C , NO 2 , CN, CF 3 , R C S(O)—, R C S(O) 2 —, (R C ) 2 C═N—, R C C(O)O—, R C OC(O)—, R C C(O)N(R)—, (R C ) 2 NC(O)— or halogen atom; and when R 19 is H, then R 22 is a (C 1 -C 40 )hydrocarbyl; (C 1 -C 40 )heterohydrocarbyl; Si(R C ) 3 , Ge(R C ) 3 , P(R P ) 2 , N(R N ) 2 , OR C , SR C , NO 2 , CN, CF 3 , R C S(O)—, R C S(O) 2 —, (R C ) 2 C═N—, R C C(O)O—, R C OC(O)—, R C C(O)N(R)—, (R C ) 2 NC(O)— or halogen atom; and

wherein at least one of R 8 or R 9 is H, and when R 8 is H, then R 9 is a (C 1 -C 40 )hydrocarbyl; (C 1 -C 40 )heterohydrocarbyl, Si(R C ) 3 , Ge(R C ) 3 , P(R P ) 2 , N(R N ) 2 , OR C , SR C , NO 2 , CN, CF 3 , R C S(O)—, R C S(O) 2 —, (R C ) 2 C═N—, R C C(O)O—, R C OC(O)—, R C C(O)N(R)—, (R C ) 2 NC(O)— or halogen atom; and when R 9 is H, then R 8 is a (C 1 -C 40 )hydrocarbyl; (C 1 -C 40 )heterohydrocarbyl, Si(R C ) 3 , Ge(R C ) 3 , P(R P ) 2 , N(R N ) 2 , OR C , SR C , NO 2 , CN, CF 3 , R C S(O)—, R C S(O) 2 —, (R C ) 2 C═N—, R C C(O)O—, R C OC(O)—, R C C(O)N(R)—, (R C ) 2 NC(O)— or halogen atom; and

optionally two or more R groups from R 9-15 , R 9-13 , R 9-12 , R 2-8 , R 4-8 , R 5-8 can combine together into ring structures, with such ring structures having from 3 to 50 atoms in the ring excluding any hydrogen atoms;

each of the hydrocarbyl, heterohydrocarbyl, Si(R C ) 3 , Ge(R C ) 3 , P(R P ) 2 , N(R N ) 2 , OR C , SR C , R C S(O)—, R C S(O) 2 —, (R C ) 2 C═N—, R C C(O)O—, R C OC(O)—, R C C(O)N(R)—, (R C ) 2 NC(O)—, hydrocarbylene, and heterohydrocarbylene groups independently is unsubstituted or substituted with one or more R S substituents;

each R S independently is a halogen atom, polyfluoro substitution, perfluoro substitution, unsubstituted (C 1 -C 18 )alkyl, F 3 C—, FCH 2 O—, F 2 HCO—, F 3 CO—, R 3 Si—, R 3 Ge—, RO—, RS—, RS(O)—, RS(O) 2 —, R 2 P—, R 2 N—, R 2 C═N—, NC—, RC(O)O—, ROC(O)—, RC(O)N(R)—, or R 2 NC(O)—, or two of the R S are taken together to form an unsubstituted (C 1 -C 18 )alkylene, wherein each R independently is an unsubstituted (C 1 -C 18 )alkyl; and

one or more cocatalysts; wherein the ratio of total number of moles of the one or more metal-ligand complexes of formula (I) to total number of moles of the one or more cocatalysts is from 1:10,000 to 100:1; and

wherein said catalyst system has a reactivity ratio r 1 in the range of greater than 100.

2. The procatalyst according to claim 1 wherein Z is O.

3. A polymerization process comprising the steps of:

polymerizing one or more α-olefins in the presence of one or more catalyst systems of claim 1 under olefin polymerizing conditions; and thereby forming an olefin based polymer.

4. An olefin based polymer comprising the polymerization reaction product of:

one or more α-olefins polymerized in the presence of one or more catalyst systems of claim 1 under olefin polymerizing conditions.

5. The procatalyst of claim 1 wherein and R 1 and R 16 are the same.