Transition metal halides complex Lewis acid reagent

The role of aluminoxane in polymerization with transition metal complexes has not been completely clarified. It certainly serves as the alkylating reagent of the transition metal halides to produce metal dialkyls. Methylaluminoxane, having Lewis acidity, can abstract one of the two alkyl groups at the metal center and creates a cationic metal alkyl species with a readily accessible coordination site for the incoming olefin molecules. As described previously, a cationic monoalkyl complex having a vacant coordination site for the monomer is suitable in accepting the monomer and initiate the polymerization. Abstraction of one of the methyl... 

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