Abstract: A syndiotactic styrenic polymer having a narrow molecular weight distribution which is a (co)polymer comprising at least one structural unit represented by the following Formula (1): wherein C1 of a phenyl group thereof has a tacticity of 30% or more in terms of a racemic pentad determined by 13C-NMR, and Ra and m are as defined in the specification. The disclosure is also directed to a block copolymer comprising the above polymer as one segment, to a block graft polymer prepared by modifying one block of the above polymer with a nitrogen-containing aromatic polymer, and to a process for preparing a syndiotactic styrenic polymer in which a styrenic monomer is polymerized in the presence of a catalyst comprising a reaction product of a transition metal compound and at least one co-catalyst selected from organic aluminunoxy compounds.

Abstract: A process for preparing olefinic living polymers having a molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) of 1 to 1.3, comprising polymerizing an olefinic monomer having 2 to 20 carbon atoms at low temperatures in the presence of a catalyst comprising (A) a hafnium or zirconium-containing compound having one or two cyclopentadienyl backbones, (B) a triphenyl boron compound or a tetraphenyl borate compound and optionally (C) a specific mono-, di- or trialkylaluminum compound. When the catalyst comprising the zirconium-containing compound is prepared by further using a titanium-containing compound (D), the polymerization temperature can be raised.

Abstract: A butadiene polymer (i) having a cis bond unit content of at least 50% based on the total butadiene units, a number average molecular weight (Mn) of 1,000 to 10,000,000, and at least 80%, based on the total molecular chains, of living chains containing a transition metal of group IV of the Periodic table at a terminal thereof; a polymer (ii) obtained by modifying terminals of the polymer (i); and a polymer (iii) obtained by coupling the polymers (i). These polymers (i), (ii) and (iii) are obtained by polymerizing a conjugated diene monomer alone or with a copolymerizable monomer at a specific temperature in the presence of a catalyst comprising a compound (A) of a transition metal of group IV of the periodic table having a cyclopentadienyl structure and a co-catalyst (B) selected from organoaluminum-oxy compound (a) and others and optionally further by contacting the resultant polymer with a terminal modifier or a coupling agent.

Abstract: A photorecording element is disclosed which consists of a transparent substrate, a molecular layer of an organic compound with an ability to change structure reversibly by virtue of light and disposed in direct contact with the transparent substrate, and a layer of liquid crystals disposed in direct contact with the molecular layer. A liquid crystal cell comprising the photorecording element is also disclosed. A modification having fine deformations on the surface of the transparent substrate and a modification having a dichroic dye contained in the layer of liquid crystals are embraced by the present invention.