Even though Ziegler catalysts have been known for almost half a century, rare earth metals (Ln), particularly neodymium (Nd)-based Ziegler catalyst systems, only came into the focus of industrial and academic research well afterthelargescaleapplicationoftitanium,cobaltandnickelcatalystsystems. Asadirectconsequenceofthelaterecognitionofthetechnologicalpotentialof rareearthmetalZieglercatalysts,thesesystemshaveattractedmuchattention. Considerable progress has been made in this ?eld as a result of intensive workperformed during the last fewyears. Worthmentioning is thestructural identi?cation of a variety of Ln/Al heterobimetallic complexes and the role of alkyl aluminum cocatalysts in molar mass control. Furthermore, a deeper understanding ofthe polymerization mechanism, suchas theliving character of neodymium-catalyzed diene polymerization associated with the reversible transfer of living polymer chains between Nd and Al, was revealed quite - cently. In spite of the vast number of patents and publications mainly issued duringthelastdecade,acomprehensivereviewthatcoversthescienti?caswell as the patent literature has been missing until now. In this volume we try to review the available literature by two independent approaches to Nd and Ln-catalyzed diene polymerizations. In the ?rst part of thevolume,whichisentitled Neodymium-Based Ziegler/NattaCatalystsand their Application in Diene Polymerization , a polymer chemist s view is given with strong emphasis on Nd-based catalyst systems. Also technological and industrialaspectsofNd-catalyzeddienepolymerizationsareaddressed.Inthe secondpartofthevolume,whichisentitled Rare-EarthMetalsandAluminum Getting Close in Ziegler-type Organometallics , a more organometallic p- spective isgivenandLn-based catalystsystems areaddressed. Bythesynopsis of these different perspectives, the reader will comprehend the complexity of Ln-based Ziegler catalyst systems and their application to the polymerization of dienes. This volume also gives a description ofthe evolution in Nd-catalyzed po- merization of dienes from the early works to the current state of the art.

Highest Impact Factor of all publications ranked by ISI within Polymer Science Short and concise reports on physics and chemistry of polymers, each written by the world renowned experts Still valid and useful after 5 or 10 years The electronic version is available free of charge for standing order customers at: springer.com/series/12/

Klappentext

areaddressed. Bythesynopsis of these different perspectives, the reader will comprehend the complexity of Ln-based Ziegler catalyst systems and their application to the polymerization of dienes. This volume also gives a description ofthe evolution in Nd-catalyzed po- merization of dienes from the early works to the current state of the art.

Inhalt
Neodymium-Based Ziegler/Natta Catalysts and their Application in Diene Polymerization.- Rare-Earth Metals and Aluminum Getting Close in Ziegler-Type Organometallics.