Syndiospecific polymerization of styrene using methylaluminoxane-activated bis(phenolato)titanium complexes

Styrene was polymerized using a series of methylaluminoxane-activated bis(phenolato)titanium complexes of the type ((OC 6 H 2 -4-Me-6- 1 Bu) 2 Z)TiX 2 (X = Cl, O 1 Pr, η 5 -C 5 Me 5 ) to give syndiotactic polystyrene. Catalyst activity was found to depend on the nature of the bridging group Z, where Z = CH 2 , CH 2 CH 2 , S, S=O. Activity was found to be highest for Z = S.