Abstract
Fifty-four years after the Nobel Prize was awarded to Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta for the polymerization of olefins by complex organometallic catalysts, the field continues to elicit enormous interest, both from the academia and the industry. Furthermore, this chemistry and technology occupy a high ground in the annals of 20th-century science. The elegance and simplicity of Ziegler’s chemistry continue to astound researchers even today, and the enormous impact this chemistry has had on the quality of our life is truly incredible. Polyethylene, produced using Ziegler’s chemistry has touched every aspect of common man’s life, so much so that, today it is impossible to imagine life on this planet without polyethylene. Equally fascinating is the story of how Ziegler stumbled on this most impactful discovery. Ziegler’s discipline and rigor in systematically following every lead in the laboratory, however trivial it seemed, and his penchant for understanding the basics of science culminated in 1954, with a simple reaction for converting ethylene to polyethylene, the quintessential carbon-carbon (C-C) bond forming reaction. His life and work hold many lessons for all scientists who dream of making their scientific quests useful and relevant to society. It is also relevant to the contemporary debate on basic versus applied research.
Similar content being viewed by others
Suggested Reading
Karl Ziegler, Nobel Address, 1963, https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel$_$prizes/chemistry/laureates/1963/ziegler-lecture.pdf
G Wilke, Fifty Years of Ziegler Catalysts: Consequences and Development of an Invention, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Vol.42, No.41, p.5000, 2003.
C E H Bawn, Karl Ziegler, Biographical Memoirs of the Fellows of the Royal Society, Vol.21, p.569, 1975.
K Ziegler, A Forty Years’ Stroll through the Realms of Organometallic Chemistry, Adv. Organometallic Chem., Vol.6, p.01, 1968.
K Ziegler, H Eberle and H Ohlinger, Polymembered Ring Systems(I). Polymethylene Ketones With More Than Six Membered Rings, Justus Leibigs Ann.Chem., Vol.504, p.94, 1933.
M Gomberg, An Instance of Trivalent Carbon: Triphenylmethyl, J. Am. Chem. Soc., Vol.22, No.11, p.757, 1900.
K Ziegler and F Thielman, Alkali Metals as a Reagent for Weakened Valency Organic Compounds, Ber. Deut. Chem. Ges., Vol.56, p.1740, 1923.
K Ziegler and B Schnell, Tervalent Carbons II. Transformation of Ethers of Tertiary Alcohols into Organic Potassium Compounds and Hexaphenylethane Derivatives, Justus Leibigs Ann.Chem., Vol.437, p.227, 1924.
K Ziegler and H Colonius, Alkali Organic Compounds. V. Suitable Synthesis of Lithium Alkyls, Justus Leibigs Ann.Chem., Vol.479, p.135, 1930.
M Szwarc, ‘Living’ Polymers, Nature, Vol.178, No.4543, p1168, 1956; Polymerization Initiated by Electron Transfer to Monomer. A New Method of Formation of Block Polymers, J.Amer.Chem.Soc., Vol.78, No.11, p.2656, 1956.
K Ziegler, Aluminium Organics and Their Importance in Olefine Chemistry, Chem. Ind., Vol.34, p.520, 1952.
R Mulhaupt, Catalytic Polymerization and Post Polymerization Catalysis Fifty Years After the Discovery of Ziegler’s Catalysts, Macromol.Chem.Phys., Vol.204, p.289, 2003
(b) L L Bohm, The Ethylene PolymerizationWith Ziegler Catalysts: Fifty Years After The Discovery., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Vol.42, No.41, p.5010. 2003.
K Ziegler, Nobel Lecture, Consequences and Development of an Invention, Rubber Chem. Technol., Vol.38, No.1, p.23, 1965.
K Ziegler, H Holzkamp, H Breil and H Martin, Mülheim Low Pressure Ethylene Process, Angew.Chem. Int. Ed., Vol.67, p.541, 1955.
W Kaminsky, Ed., Polyolefins: 50 Years After Ziegler and Natta, Volumes I and II, Adv. Polym. Sci., Vol.257 and 258, Springer, Heidelberg, Germany, 2013.
H Martin, Polymers, Patents, and Profts, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 2007.
A U Rulev, Serendipity or the Art of Making Discoveries, New J. Chem., Vol.41, p.4262, 2017.
J J Eisch, Karl Ziegler: Master Advocate for the Unity of Pure and Applied Research, J. Chem. Educ., Vol.60, No.12, p.1009, 1983.
J M Thomas, Intellectual Freedom in Academic Scientifc Research Under Threat, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Vol.52, p.5654, 2013.
H Schwartz, On the Usefulness of Useless Knowledge, Nature Reviews Chemistry, Vol.1, p.1, 2017.
C Hirschi, The Organization of Innovation – The History of an Obsession, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Vol.52, No.52, p.13874, 2013.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
S Sivaram is currently a Honorary Professor and INSA Senior Scientist at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune. Prior to this, he was a CSIR-Bhatnagar Fellow (2011–16) and Director of CSIR-NCL (2002–10). Apart from pursuing research in polymer chemistry, Sivaram is a keen student of history of science and the origin and evolution of thoughts that drive the scientific enterprise.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sivaram, S. The Ziegler catalysts. Reson 22, 985–1006 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-017-0567-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-017-0567-x