A Brief History of Ziegler-Natta Catalysts

Ziegler and coworkers at the Max Planck Institut fiir Kohlenforschung (Coal Research) in what was then Mulheim, West Germany were working to expand the scope and utility of the aufbau reaction. It was during this endeavor in 1953 that they accidentally discovered the nickel effect. This term stemmed from the observation that nickel in combination with triethylaluminum catalyzes dimerization of ethylene to produce 1-butene. Accounts vary on the source of nickel in the formative experiments. It was ultimately attributed to trace nickel extracted from the surface of the stainless steel reactor in which early reactions were conducted. 

The origins of Ziegler-Natta polyolefin catalysts have been authoritatively described by McMillan (2), Seymour (3, 4), Boor (5) and Vandenberg and Repka (6). 

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