Process for preparing cyclopentadienyl-type ligands

Claim 1

A process for preparing a cyclopentadienyl-type ligand comprising: (1) reacting a halosilane with an alkali metal salt of a cyclopentadienyl-type compound to form a silylcyclopentadienyl-type compound, wherein said halosilane compound containing a cyclopentadienyl-type group is represented by the formula X"Si(R 1 ) 3 , wherein X" is a halide and wherein each R 1 is individually an alkyl group containing 1 to 20 carbon atoms or hydrogen, wherein said cyclopentadienyl-type group is an unsubstituted cyclopentadienyl, substituted cyclopentadienyl, unsubstituted indenyl, substituted indenyl, unsubstituted fluorenyl, or substituted fluorenyl group, wherein the substituents on said cyclopentadienyl-type group are hydrocarbyl groups containing 1 to 12 carbon atoms, alkoxy groups containing 1 to 12 carbon atoms, trialkylsilyl groups where each alkyl group contains 1 to 12 carbon atoms, alkyl halide groups where the alkyl group contains 1 to 12 carbon atoms, or halide; (2) reacting said silylcyclopentadienyl-type compound with an alkali metal alkyl containing 1 to 8 carbon atoms and methylene chloride, to produce a chloromethylated silylcyclopentadienyl-type compound; and then (3) reacting said chloromethylated silylcyclopentadienyl-type compound with a nucleophile to produce said cyclopentadienyl-type ligand, wherein said nucleophile is represented by the formula JA, wherein J is an alkali metal, wherein A is --YPR 2 , --YNR 2 , or --NR 2 , wherein Y is an alkylene group containing 1 to 24 carbon atoms, wherein each R is individually selected from alkyl groups containing 1 to 20 carbon atoms.