The solid state and fluxional behaviors in solution of complexes L2AlOBn and L7AlOBn (Bn = benzyl) supported by an analog of salen incorporating indolide arms connected via their 2- and 7-positions were defined by experiment and theory. The complexes catalyze the stereoselective conversion of rac-lactide (rac-LA) to isotactically enriched polylactide. A key aspect of the stereocontrol was examined through study of the initiation reactions via NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystal structures of the ring-opened products, and theory. The results include the first unambiguous structural definition of stereocontrol in ring-opening of LA by a metal–alkoxide complex and the finding that definition of the stereochemistry of initiation by the studied system is governed thermodynamically rather than kinetically.

Aspects of the proposed pathway combining chain-end and enantiomorphic site control for the stereospecific polymerization of lactide (LA) were investigated through studies of aluminum complexes supported by enantiopure and racemic bipyrrolidine-based salan ligands, Lig 1 AlOBn and Lig 2 AlOBn. Spectroscopic analysis of stoichiometric initiation reactions and the definition of the stereochemistry of the selective formation of the "match" single-insertion products by X-ray crystallography led to key conclusions about the observed stereocontrol. Notably, it was determined to rely heavily on the preference for the trio of stereocenters around the metal to have a "match" formation (RR-ligand + S-polymer), which works synergistically with the enantiomorphic site preference of the catalyst to ring-open next to a stereocenter of a monomer of the same chirality as that of the ligand, resulting in highly heterotactic or syndiotactic PLA from rac-or meso-LA, respectively.