Progress in Rare-earth Metal Complexes with Different Ligands in Olefin Polymerization

Catalysts play a pivotal role in promoting the development of polyolefin industry, especially, the design and synthesis of metal-catalysts is the key to the metal-organic chemistry. Surprisingly, rare-earth metal harness the unique orbital structure, reactivity and coordination criteria, so rare-earth metal complexes have been one of the efficient catalysts and show the special advantages in the preparation of polyolefin materials by introducing steric hindrance around the metal center, notably, their structure, chemical activity and stability are determined by ligands. The development of rare-earth metal catalysts with cyclopentadienyl ligands (alkyl-substituted, aryl-substituted, indenyl and fluorenyl ligands) and non-cyclopentadienyl ligands (macrocyclic tetradentate, tridentate, didentate, mondentate ligands), and their applications in the preparation of polyolefins are described in this review. This work aims to promote the research of rare-earth metal catalysts in the field of polyolefin synthesis and metal-organic catalysis, as well provide new design ideas and research methods for the synthesis of high-quality and functionalized polyolefin catalysts.

Automated summary

Catalysts, especially rare-earth metal complexes, play a crucial role in the development of the polyolefin industry. The design and synthesis of metal catalysts are key factors in metal-organic chemistry. Rare-earth metal complexes harness unique orbital structure, reactivity, and coordination criteria, making them efficient catalysts in the preparation of polyolefin materials. This review focuses on the development of rare-earth metal catalysts and their applications in polyolefin synthesis, providing new ideas and research methods for the synthesis of high-quality and functionalized polyolefin catalysts.