Methylaluminoxane: Key component for new polymerization catalysts

The use of methylaluminoxane (MAO) as cocatalyst for the polymerization of olefins and some other vinyl compounds has widely increased the possibilities for more precisely controlling the polymer composition, polymer structure, tacticity, and special properties. Highly active catalysts are obtained by different transition metal complexes such as metallocenes, half-sandwich complexes, and bisimino complexes combined with MAO. These catalysts allow the synthesis of polyolefins with different tacticities and stereoregularities, new cycloolefins and other copolymers, and polyolefin composite materials of a purity that cannot be obtained by Ziegler-Natta catalysts. The single-site character of metallocene/MAO or other transition metal/MAO catalysts leads to a better understanding of the mechanism of olefin polymerization. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.