Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Polymerization catalysis

Imagine polypropylene

Linear polyethylene and isotactic polypropylene, the two largest-volume polymers on the market, were invented in the 1950s thanks to diverse mixes of serendipity, intuition and talent. After 70 years, a thoughtful revisitation of those ground-breaking discoveries can still be revealing and inspirational.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: The evolution of Ziegler–Natta catalysts for polypropylene.

References

  1. Natta, G. et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 77, 1708–1710 (1955).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Moore, E. P. Jr (ed.) Polypropylene Handbook: Polymerization, Characterization, Properties, Applications (Hanser Gardner Publications, 1996).

  3. Wilke, G. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 42, 5000–5008 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Busico, V. in Polyolefins: 50 Years After Ziegler and Natta I (Ed. Kaminsky, W.) 37−58 (Springer, 2013).

  5. Natta, G. & Corradini, P. Atti Acc. Naz. Lincei 8, 73–80 (1955).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Natta, G. & Corradini, P. J. Polym. Sci. 39, 29–46 (1959).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Natta, G., Pino, P. & Mazzanti, G. Gazz. Chim. Ital. 87, 529–548 (1957).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Natta, G., Corradini, P. & Allegra, G. J. Polym Sci. 51, 399–410 (1961).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Corradini, P., Barone, V., Fusco, R. & Guerra, G. Eur. Polym. J. 15, 1133–1141 (1979).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Cavallo, L., Guerra, G., Vacatello, M. & Corradini, P. Macromolecules 24, 1784–1790 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Cecchin, G., Morini, G. & Piemontesi, F. in Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology Vol. 26, 502–554 (Wiley-Interscience, 2007).

  12. Vittoria, A., Meppelder, A., Friederichs, N., Busico, V. & Cipullo, R. ACS Catal. 7, 4509–4518 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Resconi, L., Cavallo, L., Fait, A. & Piemontesi, F. Chem. Rev. 100, 1253–1346 (2000).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Baier, M. C., Zuideveld, M. A. & Mecking, S. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 53, 9722–9744 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Ehm, C. et al. Polymers 12, 1005 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Wellnhofer, P. Archaeopteryx: Der Urvogel von Solnhofen (Dr Friedrich Pfeil, 2008).

  17. Busico, V. & Cipullo, R. Prog. Polym. Sci. 26, 443–533 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vincenzo Busico.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Antinucci, G., Cipullo, R. & Busico, V. Imagine polypropylene. Nat Catal 6, 456–457 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-023-00975-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-023-00975-8

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing