Stereospecific oligo- and polymerization with metallocene catalysts

The regio- and stereo-selectivity of metallocene/methylaluminoxane catalysts was shown to be significantly and rapidly enhanced by substitution of the indenyl ligands and by heterogenization of the zirconocenes. By oligomerization of 1-butene with optically active metallocenes, it could be shown that there is a small influence from the growing polymer chain on the isotacticity, the overriding factor in every case being the existence of a chiral active centre. Each insertion step increased the stereospecificity, until the maximum value was achieved.