Since its discovery

living olefin polymerization has attracted much attention due to its ability to produce polymers with pre-determined molecular weight and narrow molecular weight distribution

various block copolymers and end-functionalized polymers.Metal-catalyzed olefin polymerization was considered to be highly active and superior in stereochemistry control.Therefore

their living polymerization has been paid much attention in the past decade.Complexes with early-transition metal centers such as Ti and Zr have been investigated comprehensively in catalytic olefin polymerization

and many of them are found to exhibit living behavior.In comparison

late transition metal catalysts are rare with regard to catalytic living olefin polymerization

but they develop rapidly and act differently to their early transition analogues.In this review

advances in late transition metal catalysts for living olefin polymerization and related factors affecting the living behavior are summarized.A comparison is made between late-transition living polymerization catalysts and those of the early-transition metals.