American Chemical Society, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 48(137), p. 15078-15081, 2015
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b09913
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Homodinuclear catalysts have good precedent for epoxide and carbon dioxide/anhydride copolymerizations; in contrast, so far pure heterodinuclear catalysts are unknown. The synthesis and properties of a heterodinuclear Zn(II)/Mg(II) complex coordinated by a symmetrical macrocyclic ligand are reported. It shows high polymerization selectivity, control, and significantly greater activity compared to either of the homodinuclear analogues or any combinations of them. Indeed, compared to a 50:50 mixture of the homodinuclear complexes, it shows 5 times (CO2/epoxide) or 40 times (anhydride/epoxide) greater activity.