Late Transition Metal Polymerization Catalysis, Structure, Mechanism, and Polymer Properties

Call for Papers

The discovery of transition metal olefin polymerization catalysts was a breakthrough for polyolefin world. Although olefin polymerization has been the domain of early transition metal catalysts, there has been growing interest in late transition metal catalysts in the past decade. The field of catalytic polymerization has been rejuvenated by Brookhart's and Gibson's seminal works on the use of late transition metal complexes in olefin polymerization. The sensitivity of metallocenes to polar substituents is largely responsible for an increase in interest in late transition metal complexes as olefin polymerization catalysts. Indeed, late metal catalysts complement early metal catalysts in several ways. Late transition metal catalysts are potentially more tolerant towards functionality than their oxophilic early metal counterparts and also they can produce polyolefins with interesting new topologies. In addition, the copolymerization of olefins with polar monomers has become possible. Experimental results and theoretical calculations also indicated that substituents on backbone of the ligand have a significant influence on the activity for ethylene polymerization. The rational design of metallocene catalysts allowed, for the first time, a precise correlation between the structure of the single site catalyst and the microstructure of the olefin homo- or copolymer chain. A similar relationship does not yet exist for late transition metal complexes. This goal, however, and the enormous opportunities that may result from new monomer combinations provide the direction and the vision for future developments. We invite researchers to contribute original articles as well as review articles. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Design, synthesis, and application of new olefin polymerization catalysts for the creation of value-added, new polymers, and copolymers
• Mechanistic aspects of ethylene polymerization via LTM catalysts
• Polymer properties and microstructure of polymers
• SHOP process for C₄–C₂₀ production
• Computational study to correlate the activity and different aspects of polymerization
• Miscellaneous ansa-metallocene catalysts

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/ijps/late/ according to the following timetable:

Lead Guest Editor

• Saeid Ahmadjo, Department of Catalyst, Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute, Tehran, Iran

Guest Editors

• Saman Damavandi, Department of Chemistry, Islamic Azad University, Sarvestan Branch, Sarvestan, Iran
• Reza Sandaroos, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Birjand University, Birjand, Iran
• Seyed Mohammad Mahdi Mortazavi, Department of Catalyst, Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute, Tehran, Iran
• Griselda Barrera Galland, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul, Avenida Bento Gonçalves 9500, 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
• Tomás Cuenca, Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Universidad de Alcalá, Campus Universitario, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Spain