The role of ‘internal’ and ‘external’ Lewis bases in controlling the stereochemistry of highly active Ziegler–Natta catalysts
Abstract
Chiral discrimination of the enantiomers of racemic α-alkenes in polymerization with highly active MgCl2-supported Ziegler-Natta catalysts is observed when (–)-menthyl benzoate is used as internal Lewis base; using (–)-menthyl benzoate as an external Lewis base leads to opposite but lower stereoelectivity.