The development of catalyst for syndiotactic polymerization of styrene

The progress of the metallocene-based catalysts for syndiotactic polystyrene (SPS) has been reviewed. SPS is an excellent polymer, but the production cost was expensive at the beginning. In this review, the process of the improvement for catalyst system is summarized to show how Idemitsu commercialize SPS. We found electron denotative ligand of metal transition complexes improves the catalyst activity. Trimethylaluminum contaminate in MAO decreases the catalyst activity and there is the optimum molecular weight of MAO for styrene polymerization. The combination of transition metal and borate compounds is also catalyst for syndiospecific polymerization of styrene.