Olefin Polymerizations Oriented by Rational Designs of Group‐13 Compounds

The application of group 13 compounds to coordination polymerization has been widely investigated. For example, cationic transition‐metal catalysts are associated with a counteranion containing aluminum and boron. Furthermore, boron‐ and aluminum‐functionalized monomers for olefin polymerization are recognized as precursors for functionalized polyolefin via versatile transformations. Recently, we have found many examples that boron and aluminum‐based activators play a crucial role in improving the activity and regio/stereospecificity, and this review summarizes these achievements in detail, including modifications of methylaluminoxane (MAO) and the development of Brønsted acidic cyclic fluoroarylborane cocatalyst. Moreover, our recent progress on the copolymerization of vinyl monomers containing boronic acid derivatives is introduced. The synthesized boron‐functionalized polyolefins are applied to high‐performance plastics and reprocessable rubber materials.