The present application relates to the technical field of
nickel-based catalyst, and discloses a
diimine ligand, a preparation method and application thereof, wherein the raw materials for preparing the
diimine ligand contain acenaphthenequinone, a protective agent, substituted
aniline and a catalyst, the protective agent is selected from one or more than two of ortho ester, amine, hydrazine and substituted hydrazine; and the
molar ratio of the acenaphthenequinone, the protective agent, the substituted
aniline and the catalyst is 1:(0.5-3):(1.6-2.4):(0.1-10). In the present application, a certain amount of protective agent is added to the
reaction system, the acenaphthenequinone is reacted with the ortho ester or low-molecular-weight amine to generate ketal or
imine, the ketal or
imine is separated or not separated, and then reacted with the substituted
aniline to generate the target product
diimine ligand, no water is generated in the synthesis reaction of the diimine ligand, the balance can be effectively promoted to the forward reaction, and the reaction yield is improved.