• Macromolecular Research
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.306-311
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• 2006

New unsymmetrical ($\alpha$-Diimine)nickel(II) catalysts having different pendent groups at the ortho positions on aromatic rings were synthesized and subjected to propylene polymerizations with MAO (methylaluminoxane). Structural analyses of the resulting polypropylenes by $^1H\;and\;^{13}C\;NMR$ showed that the ortho substituents on aromatic rings of ($\alpha$-diimine)nickel(II) catalyst affected significantly the polypropylene microstructure. While $C_s$ symmetric catalyst afforded a syndiotactic polypropylene (rr triad content=66%) due to the syndiospecific chain end control, $C_1$ symmetric catalysts produced much less stereoregular polypropylenes (rr triads content <50%), presumably because of collision of the isospecific site control with the syndiospecific chain end control.