Which of the following compounds is used in Zeigler-Natta catalyst?
GATE XE - 2012,
Answer: A
The Ziegler-Natta catalyst uses TiCl3.
A classic Ziegler-Natta catalyst combines a transition metal halide, typically titanium trichloride or tetrachloride, with an organoaluminium co-catalyst such as triethylaluminium. The titanium centre coordinates the olefin and inserts it into the growing chain, which allows stereoregular polymers such as isotactic polypropylene and linear high-density polyethylene to be made at low pressure.
CaCl2, ZnCl2 and NaCl are salts of non-transition (or d10) metals with no open d orbitals to coordinate olefins, so they cannot act as the catalytic centre.
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