Abstract
Different types of the tridentate Schiff base, [N-(2-methoxyphenyl) salicylideneamine] derivative of lanthanoid complexes along with Al(i-Bu)(3) are proved to be versatile tools for the polymerization of methylmethacrylate (MMA). The complexes, derived from indene and tridentate Schiff base ligands, express better efficiency (M-v=195 x 10(3) - 355x10(3)) than the complexes, prepared from cyclooctatetraene (COT) and tridentate Schiff base ligands (M-v=105 x 10(3) - 175 x 10(3)). The effect of catalyst, temperature, catalyst/MMA molar ratio and catalyst/Al(i-Bu), molar ratio on the polymerization of M MA at 70 degrees C are studied. It is observed that ligand size and radius of the metal are important factors in determining the catalytic efficiency of the complexes.