Recent Advancements in the Synthesis of Functional Polyolefins by Non-Bridged Half-Titanocenes

Polyolefins are used widely due to their benefits such as being lightweight, chemical inertness, low cost, tunable properties, and easy processability. However, their nonpolar nature significantly limits their high-end applications. The non-bridged half-titanocenes exhibit remarkable catalytic activities with good comonomer incorporations in the olefin polymerization. The synthesis of functional polyolefins has attracted more and more attention recently. The non-bridged half-titanocenes have been used in the preparation of functional polyolefins, in particular the functional olefin copolymers. Herein, the recent advancements in the synthesis of functional polyolefins by non-bridged half-titanocenes were reviewed. The functional polyolefins have been synthesized by direct copolymerization of olefin with functional comonomers using half-titanocenes as precatalysts. In addition, polyolefins containing reactive groups could be synthesized by the olefin (co)polymerization using half-titanocenes as precatalysts. The functional polyolefins were synthesized successfully by the post-functionalization of polyolefin containing reactive groups.