New Evidence on the Nature of the Active Sites in Heterogeneous Ziegler−Natta Catalysts for Propene Polymerization

Monitoring gestational diabetes at the point-of-care via dual glycated albumin lateral flow assays in conjunction with a handheld reader

A dual assay cartridge was developed and used in conjunction with a handheld reader for sensing % glycated albumin to monitor gestational diabetes at home.

The blocky structure of Ziegler–Natta “random” copolymers: myths and experimental evidence

When Ziegler–Natta catalysts synthesize “random” copolymers, they give multiblocks copolymers. Chains of butene–ethylene copolymers contain blocks with long and short butene sequences that crystallize in forms II and I of iPB, respectively.

Propene Polymerization with C₁-Symmetric Fluorenyl-Metallocene Catalysts

Propene homopolymers have been produced by employing three C₁-symmetric metallocene molecules (1, 2 and 3), each having t-butyl substituent(s) on the Cp, on the fluorenyl or on both aromatic moieties activated with methylaluminoxane at different polymerization temperatures and monomer concentrations. Polymers’ microstructures determined by ¹³C NMR spectroscopy suggest that the otherwise dominant alternating mechanism governed by the chain migratory insertion is largely replaced by the competing site epimerization mechanism, as a direct result of the imposing steric bulk of the t-butyl substituent on one of the distal positions of the Cp moiety. This phenomenon is more pronounced with 3 when a second t-butyl is present in the same half-space of the molecule making the site epimerization mandatory. The lower activity of catalyst 3 with respect to catalyst 2 is also in line with the necessity for the polymer chain to back-skip (or the site to epimerize) to its original position before the subsequent monomer insertion. Chain end group analyses by ¹H NMR spectroscopy have revealed that the formation of vinylidene end groups, either via β-H elimination or as a result of direct chain transfer to the monomer after an ordinary 1,2-insertion is the prevailing chain termination route. A correlation between the relative concentrations of vinylidene end groups of polypropene (PP) polymers produced with each catalyst and the corresponding polypropenes’ molar masses was found, indicating the lower the relative concentrations of vinylidene end groups, the higher the molar masses.

Selective catalysis and nanoscience: an inseparable pair

Selective catalysts can be considered as nanomachines designed to perform the synthesis of molecules with high reaction activity and high selectivity. These properties arise from a precise control of the structure of the active sites, of the three-dimensional environment and of their relationship. In both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts the active site three-dimensional environment ensemble is always a complex structure resembling the tuneable structure of enzymes, which are the most efficient catalysts optimized by nature over billions of years. To illustrate this concept the structure of a few homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts for alkenes hydrogenation and for olefin polymerization are chosen and discussed as examples.