Stereocontrolled styrene-isoprene copolymerization and styrene-ethylene-isoprene terpolymerization with a single-component allyl ansa-neodymocene catalyst

The ansa-metallocene complex (CpCMe₂Flu)Nd(C₃H₅)(THF) (1) is an effective single-component catalyst for the production of syndiotactic styrene-rich polymer materials modified by isoprene and/or ethylene. The recovered copolymers have high molecular weights (M_n = 12,000-91,000 g/mol) and unimodal, relatively narrow molecular weight distributions (M_w/M_n = 1.3-2.8). The comonomer feeds can be easily manipulated to tune the respective amounts of monomers incorporated in the copolymer and eventually modify the final properties (T_m, T_g) of the obtained materials.