Predicting the propene stereoselectivity on transition metal catalysts: A daunting task for density functional theory

Thanks to recent developments in hardware and software, quantum chemical methods are increasingly used for interpreting the complex mechanisms underlying polymerization reaction by homogeneous catalysis. Unfortunately, the dimensions of even the smallest realistic models are too large to permit the use of state-of-the-art composite wave function methods. Under these circumstances, density functional theory still offers the best compromise between cost and accuracy. However, comprehensive benchmarks of different functionals are not yet available for this important research field. The main aim of the present paper is to fill this gap by performing an unbiased comparison of several density functionals and continuum solvent models for the stereo-control in the propylene polymerization on prototypical catalysts inducing different reaction mechanisms. While it was not possible to define a unique computational protocol providing the best results in all the situations, the B3PW91 functional in conjunction with D3 empirical dispersions and the solvent model density solvent model performs remarkably well for three out of the four investigated catalysts. Under such circumstances, it is recommended to compare the results delivered by different models when approaching additional classes of catalysts.