Designing new olefin oligomerization catalysts by tracking unpaired electrons

The oligomerization of ethylene to higher alpha olefins is an essential part of chemical manufacturing. This route to value-added
longer chain hydrocarbons will only become more important as we move away from fossil fuels. Chromium-based catalysts are
some of the most established for this transformation. However these have two issues. Firstly, the catalysts lack selectivity, and
indeed sometimes polymerise the olefin. Secondly, the active catalyst species are highly challenging to investigate, due to the
paramagnetic chromium centre. In this project new pincer chromium catalysts for this important reaction will be developed. To
understand how the catalyst needs to be tuned, advanced electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopic techniques will be
used giving a hitherto unprecedented understanding of the active species' structure in catalysis. This data will establish
structure/activity relationships and allow for the design of a selective, highly-active, catalyst for olefin oligomerization.