A Kinetic Investigation of the Initialization of Catalyzed Chain Growth of Styrene: The Reaction of Cp*2ZrCl2 with Dibenzylmagnesium

The system of Cp* 2 ZrCl 2 and dibenzyl magnesium in toluene , which is a model system for initialization in the catalyzed chain growth of styrene using a bifunctional organometallic chain transfer agent, is studied via time‐resolved NMR spectro­scopy. Based on these data, a mechanism of initialization is proposed, which contains a complex interplay of association/dissociation and rearrangement reactions. The experimental concentration profiles of the individual species can be successfully modeled to the proposed kinetic scheme, and parameter estimates for the complex sequence of reactions can be deduced.