Polymerization of MMA catalyzed by different novel mixed ligand lanthanocene {(Cp) (Cl) LnSchiff-base (THF)}, (COT)-Ln(methoxyethylindenyl) (THF)/Al(i-Bu)3 systems

This article deals that the rare earth metal complexes along with Al (i-Bu)3 can catalyze the polymerization of methyl-methacrylate (MMA) into high molecular weight poly(MMA) along with narrow molecular weight distributions (MWD). A typical example was mentioned in the case of {Cp(Cl) Sm-Schiff-base(THF)} which expresses maximum (conv. % = 55.46 and Mn = 354 × 103) efficiency along with narrow MWD (Mw/Mn 60%). The effect of the catalyst, temperature, catalyst/MMA molar ratio, catalyst/Al(i-Bu)3 molar ratio on the polymerization of MMA at 60°C were also investigated.