Copolymerization of polar monomers with olefins using transition-metal complexes.

Transition-metal catalysts long ago made it from the laboratory bench to the polymerization reactor. Indeed, they are being used around the world to make more than 70 million tons of polyethylene and polypropylene a year. Transition-metal catalysts give polyolefin producers unprecedented flexibility in process and polymer design. However, there are still new worlds for catalysts to conquer. One of the most challenging targets is the controlled copolymerization of simple olefins with polar functional monomers. Success in this area would mark a quantum advance in polyolefin field.