Abstract
The results of studies on the activating influence of ligands on the catalytic properties of nickel-containing systems in oligomerisation, co-oligomerisation, and polymerisation reactions are surveyed and the electronic and steric aspects of this phenomenon are analysed from the standpoint of an SECi mechanism. The possibility of a homolytic and heterolytic activation of the Ni–C bond in catalytic centres by electron-accepting and electron-donating ligands respectively is examined. It is shown that the molecular weight of the oligomerisation and polymerisation products is determined by the steric effect of the ligands and that the stability of the catalytic centres depend primarily on the frequency of the active centre ⇄ potential centre transitions.
The bibliography includes 79 references.