title: Design of stereoselective Ziegler-Natta propene polymerization catalysts.
abstract: After five decades of largely serendipitous (albeit formidable) progress, catalyst design in Ziegler-Natta olefin polymerization, i.e., the rational implementation of new active species to target predetermined polyolefin architectures, has ultimately become a realistic ambition, thanks to a much deeper fundamental understanding and major advances in the tools of computational chemistry. In this article, we discuss, as a case history, a unique class of stereorigid C2-symmetric bis(phenoxy-amine)Zr(IV) catalysts with controlled kinetic behavior. A large variety of polypropylene microstructures have been obtained with these catalysts by modulating the steric demand of one key substituent, without altering the nature and symmetry of the ancillary ligand framework, under the guidance of computer modeling. This unusual achievement is relevant per se and for the perspective implications in catalyst discovery.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Cintia, 80126 Naples, Italy. busico@unina.it
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Busico
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cipullo
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pellecchia
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ronca
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Roviello
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Talarico