Аннотация:Efficient and economical plastic waste upcycling to prevent environmental accumulation relies on the development of catalysts capable of polymer degradation. A systematic high-throughput screening of twenty-eight polymerization catalysts precursors, belonging to the catalyst families of metallocenes, ansa-metallocenes, and hemi- and post-metallocenes, in cis-1,4-polybutadiene (PB) degradation reveals, for the first time, important structure-activity correlations. The upcycling conditions involve activation of the catalysts (at 0.18% catalyst loading) with 15-30 equiv of tri-iso-butyl aluminum at 50 °C in toluene. The data indicate the ability to degrade PB is a general reactivity profile of neutral group 4 metal hydrides. A simple quantitative-structure activity relationship (QSAR) model utilizing two descriptors for the distribution of steric bulk in the active pocket and one descriptor measuring the electrophilicity of the metal ion reveals that the degradation ability increases with an a) increased but not overbearing steric congestion and b) lower electrophilicity.