Patent ID: 8907032

Claim:
A process of polymerizing an alpha-olefin, the process comprising contacting the alpha-olefin with a catalyst system which comprises: (i) a pre-catalyst comprising a metal complex of a Group IV metal atom and a salalen ligand complexed therewith; and (ii) a co-catalyst, said metal complex having the general Formula II*: wherein Q is MXp, whereas M is a group IV element; X is a labile group; and p is an integer ranging from 0 to 4; B is a bridging moiety being at least 2 carbon atoms in length; R is alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, heteroaryl and heteroalicyclic, or, alternatively, forms a 5-membered or 6-membered heterocyclic ring with a carbon atom of said bridging moiety; and R 1 -R 8 are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, halogen, alkoxy, aryloxy, heteroalicyclic, heteroaryl, and nitro, provided that: at least one of R 1 -R 4 is independently a rigid bulky group selected from the group consisting of a cycloalkyl and a heteroalicyclic, each having at least 7 carbon atoms; each of R 1 -R 4 is independently a halogen; and/or said R forms a 5-membered or 6-membered heterocyclic ring with a carbon atom of said bridging moiety, thereby producing a polymer of the alpha-olefin.