Palladium complexes containing imino phenoxide ligands: synthesis, luminescence, and their use as catalysts for the ring-opening polymerization of rac-lactide

The preparation, structural characterization, luminescence, and catalytic activity of three palladium(II) complexes bearing imino phenoxide ligands are reported. The X-ray studies revealed that the complexes are mononuclear with palladium centres coordinated in a square-planar coordination environment. Two of the complexes are emissive in solution at room temperature. The catalytic activities towards the ring-opening polymerization of rac-lactide (rac-LA) were tested. Polymers with moderate molecular weights and relatively broad dispersity (Ð) were obtained. Kinetic studies revealed that the polymerization followed first-order kinetics. Graphical abstract Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00706-017-2119-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.