Polymerization with heterogeneous metalorganic catalysts. VI. Differences in polymerization activity of α-olefins and some kinetic results on butene-1 polymerization

Relative changes in polymerization activity of ethylene, propylene, and butene-1 in Ziegler-Natta polymerization were compared by use of TiCl₃ samples contaminated with O₂ and H₂O to various extents. Catalyst depletion varied for the three monomers which supported the existence of different active centers. In butene-1 polymerizations with the system Al(C₂H₅)₂Cl–TiCl₃, the formation of active centers involves an irreversible and a reversible (adsorption) reaction, the former pertaining to the formation of Al(C₂H₅)Cl₂ and dependent upon the purity of the TiCl₃. The kinetic treatment of the rate curves suggests a mixed order of catalyst deactivation and again points to the importance of Al(C₂H₅)Cl₂.     

Polymerization of butene-2 with isomerization to butene-1

An attempt has been made to prepare a high molecular weight isotactic polybutene-1 from cis- or trans-butene-2. Polymerization of butene-2 did not occur due to the steric effect of the substituents. In the presence of TiCl₃–Al(C₂H₅)₃ catalyst, however, both butene-2 monomers were found to polymerize at a slower rate than butene-1 and to give polymers consisting of the repeating unit of butene-1. From the gas chromatographic determination of the isomer distribution of the butenes recovered after the polymerization, it was found that the butenes isomerized, in the presence of the catalyst system containing TiCl₃, to approach the thermodynamic equilibrium mixture of butene-1, cis-butene-2, and trans-butene-2. It was also found that the rates of polymerization of butene-2 for the catalyst systems used were proportional to the isomerization rates. These results show that butene-2 isomerizes first to butene-1 which has less steric hindrance and then polymerizes as butene-1, through ordinary vinyl polymerization by a coordinated anionic mechanism. This type of polymerization was observed in some other linear β-olefins such as n-pentene-2 and n-hexene-2.     

Fragmentation in cationic olefin oligomerization

The dominant products from the polymerization of butene-2 in CH₂Cl₂ at ?25°C with BF₃CH₃OH as catalyst are C₁₀, C₁₂, and C₁₄ olefins. Formed in lesser amounts are C₉ and C₁₃ olefins but C₅–₇ and C₁₁ olefins have not been detected. The few products so far identified retain the basic butene-2 structure suggesting that the anomalous products may not be formed in a typical carbonium-ion-type rearrangement reaction but perhaps arise in a fission process associated with the propagation and/or transfer steps in the polymerization. With propylene as monomer the normal oligomers are by far the most important products, but all fission products can be detected.     

Monomer-isomerization polymerization. V. Effects of transition metal compounds on monomer-isomerization polymerizations of butene-2 and pentene-2

In order to clarify the correlation between polymerization and monomer isomerization in the monomer-isomerization polymerization of β-olefins, the effects of some transition metal compounds which have been known to catalyze olefin isomerizations on the polymerizations of butene-2 and pentene-2 with Al(C₂H₅)₃–TiCl₃ or Al(C₂H₅)₃–VCl₃ catalyst have been investigated. It was found that some transition metal compounds such as acetylacetonates of Fe(III), Co(II), and Cr(III) or nickel dimethylglyoxime remarkably accelerate these polymerizations with Al(C₂H₅)₃–TiCl₃ catalyst at 80°C. All the polymers from butene-2 were high molecular weight polybutene-1. With Al(C₂H₅)₃–VCl₃ catalyst, which polymerizes α-olefins but does not catalyze polymerization of β-olefins, no monomer-isomerization polymerizations of butene-2 and pentene-2 were observed. When Fe(III) acetylacetonate was added to this catalyst system, however, polymerization occurred. These results strongly indicate that two independent active centers for the olefin isomerization and the polymerizations of α-olefins were necessary for the monomer-isomerization polymerizations of β-olefins.     

Monomer-isomerization polymerization. VI. Isomerizations of butene-2 with TiCl3 or Al(C2H5)3–TiCl3 catalyst

A study of the isomerization of butene-2 with TiCl₃ or Al(C₂H₅)₃–TiCl₃ catalyst in n-heptane has been investigated at 60–80°C to elucidate further the mechanism of monomer-isomerization polymerization. It was found that positional and geometrical isomerizations in the presence of these catalysts occurred concurrently with activation energies of 14–16 kcal/mole. The presence of Al(C₂H₅)₃ with TiCl₃ catalyst could accelerate the initial rates of these isomerizations and initiate the monomer-isomerization polymerization of butene-2. From the results obtained, it was concluded that the isomerization of butene-2 proceeds via an intermediate σ-complex between the transition metal hydride and butene isomers.     

Metal complexes in catalytic transformation of olefins. 7. Characteristics of active centers and the mechanism of dimerization of ethylene to butene-1 and polymerization of acetylene in the Ti(O-n-Bu)4-AlEt3 catalytic system in ethers

The formation and properties of active centers were studied in the dimerization of ethylene and polymerization of acetylene in the Ti(O-n-Bu)₄-AlEt₃ system, in heteroatomic solvents. The absence of ionic stages in the dimerization in dibutyl ether was established. Reaction of ethylene, acetylene (A), and phenylacetylene (PA) with the paramagnetic Ti(I) complex, producing butene-1 or polyacetylenes, a paramagnetic complex, and diamagnetic products, was established for the first time. The effect of such factors as T, [Ti]₀, Al/Ti, and M/Ti on consumption and accumulation kinetics of paramagnetic products was studied. Formation of a carbon-centered radical, produced by A or PA joining Ti(I) in the oxidation process, and whose further transformations cause derivation of all the above-mentioned products, was suggested. A probable mechanism was suggested for dimerization of ethylene to butene-1, with intermediate formation of titanacycles.Deceased.N. D. Zelinskii Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117913 Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 7, pp. 1526–1535, July, 1992.     

Synthesis of high-purity tantalum pentoxide from wastes formed in manufacture of lithium tantalate single crystals

Method for recovery of tantalum from wastes formed in manufacture of lithium tantalate single crystals to obtain high-purity tantalum pentaoxide for synthesis of LiTaO₃ stock is suggested. The extraction of tantalum with a mixture of extractive agents, dimethylamides of carboxylic acids of the C₁₀?CC₁₃ fraction and octanol-1 in Eskeide diluent, was studied.     

Ene reactions of olefins. I. The addition of ethylene to 2-butene and the decomposition of 3-methylpentene-1

The pyrolysis of ethylene–butene-2 mixtures has been studied in a static system over the temperature range of 689°-754°k and for initial pressures of each olefin of 20–200 torr. The two main addition products were cyclopentene and 3-methylpentene-1. Kinetic evidence indicated that cyclopentene was formed from radical processes while 3-methylpentene-1 was formed by the molecular “ene¨?” addition of ethylene to butene-2 through a six-center transition state. The following rate constants were obtained: The pyrolysis of 3-methylpentene-1 has been studied over the same temperature range and for initial pressures of 20–100 torr. Kinetic evidence showed that the products ethylene and butenes were formed in both radical and molecular processes. Estimates of the rate constant k_?1t and k_?1c were, however, in reasonable agreement with the measurements of k_1t and k_1c. The mechanism of the ene reaction is discussed, and it is concluded that the transition state does not involve the formation of a biradical.     

Effect of short-chain alcohols on the oil-in-water microemulsion polymerization of styrene

The influence of short-chain alcohols, 1-butanol (C₄OH), 2-pentanol (C₅OH) and 1-hexanol (C₆OH), on the formation of oil-in-water styrene microemulsions and the subsequent free-radical polymerization was studied. Sodium dodecyl sulfate was used as the surfactant. The overall performance of C₄OH as the cosurfactant is quite different from C₅OH and C₆OH. The range of the microemulsion region in decreasing order is C₄OH > C₅OH > C₆OH. The primary parameters selected for the microemulsion polymerization study were the concentrations of cosurfactant and styrene. Only a small fraction of microemulsion droplets initially present in the reaction system can be successfully transformed into latex particles and the remaining droplets serve as a reservoir to supply the growing particles with monomer. Limited flocculation of latex particles also occurs during polymerization and the degree of flocculation is most significant for the C₄OH system. Received: 24 August 1999/Accepted in revised form: 22 October 1999     

Kinetic studies of polymerization of propylene with active TiCl3–Zn(C2H5)2

In order to elucidate the structure of the Ziegler-Natta polymerization center, we have carried out some kinetic studies on the polymerization of propylene with active TiCl₃—Zn(C₂H₅)₂ in the temperature range of 25–56°C. and the Zn(C₂H₅)₂ concentration range of 4 × 10^?3–8 × 10^?2 mole/1., and compared the results with those obtained with active TiCl₃—Al(C₂H₅)₃. The following differences were found: (1) the activation energy of the stationary rate of polymerization is 6.5 kcal/mole with Zn(C₂H₅)₂ and 13.8 kcal./mole with Al(C₂H₅)₃; (2) the growth rate of the polymer chains with Zn(C₂H₅)₂ is about times slower at 43.5°C.; and (3) the polymerization centers formed with Zn(C₂H₅)₂ are more unstable. It can be concluded that the structure of the polymerization center with Zn(C₂H₅)₂ is different from that with Al(C₂H₅)₃.     

Electrochemical polymerization of dicarboxylic acids—II. Oligomers and side products in the polymerization of adipic acid

The electrochemical polymerization of adipic acid in methanol and in methanol-pyridine (1:1) via the Kolbe reaction

was investigated as regards the oligomeric and side products. GC-MS, i.r. and NMR were used to identify the many products. Gaseous and volatile compounds were identified as C₄ and C₈ hydrocarbons besides λ- and δ-valerolactones. The less volatile compounds were separated on silica gel columns to fractions, viz. that eluted by heptane which contained hydrocarbons, that eluted by benzene which contained ether and ester groups and that eluted by methanol which contained higher oligomeric products containing oxygen. Four types of hydrocarbons were formed, viz.n-alkanes, n-alkenes, x-alkenes (the place of the double bond is not known) and cycloalkanes. Saturated and unsaturated oligomeric mono- and di-carboxylic acids were also formed.     

Kinetics of oxidation of butene-1 to butanone in aqueous solution in the presence of ions Pd2+ and Mo-V-phosphoric heteropoly acid

Oxidation of butene-1 to butanone in the presence of homogeneous catalysts (PdSO₄ + HPA-x), where HPA-x = H_3+xPV_xMo_12-xO₄₀, 1 ￡ x ￡ 4, was investigated. This reaction is found to be of the 1st order with respect to C₄H₈, and of the 0.64th order with respect to Pd. The reaction rate does not depend on the HPA-x concentration and pH of the solution. The activation energy of the reaction is variable. A kinetic expression of the reaction is obtained for 303-343 K. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Comparison of electrochemical properties of two-component C60-Pd polymers formed under electrochemical conditions and by chemical synthesis

The electrochemical behavior of C₆₀-Pd polymer formed under electrochemical conditions and by the chemical synthesis was examined. In these polymers, fullerene moieties are covalently bonded to palladium atoms to form a polymeric network. Both materials deposited at the electrode surface show electrochemical activity at negative potentials due to the reduction of fullerene cage. Electrochemically formed thin polymeric films exhibit much more reversible voltammetric response in comparison to chemically synthesized polymers. The morphology and electrochemical behavior of chemically synthesized C₆₀-Pd polymer depend on the composition of grown solution. Chemical polymerization results in formation of large, ca. 50 μm, crystallic superficial structures that are composed of regular spherical particles with a diameter of 150 nm. The capacitance properties of C₆₀-Pd films were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and faradaic impedance spectroscopy. Specific capacitance of chemically formed films depends on the conditions of film formation. The best capacitance properties was obtained for films containing 1:3 fullerene to Pd molar ratio. For these films, specific capacitance of 35 Fg^?1 was obtained in acetonitrile containing (n-C₄H₉)₄NClO₄. This value is much lower in comparison to the specific capacitance of electrochemically formed C₆₀-Pd film.     

Reverse ATRP process of acrylonitrile in the presence of ionic liquids

An ionic liquid, 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([C₄mim] [BF₄]), was first used as the solvent in azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN)‐initiated reverse atom transfer radical polymerization (RATRP) of acrylonitrile with FeCl₃/succinic acid (SA) as the catalyst system. The polymerization in [C₄mim][BF₄] proceeded in a well‐controlled manner as evidenced by kinetic studies. Compared with the polymerization in bulk, the polymerization in [C₄mim][BF₄] not only showed the best control of molecular weight and its distribution but also provided rather rapid reaction rate with the ratio of [C₄mim][BF₄] at 200:1:2:4. The polymerization apparent activation energies in [C₄mim][BF₄] and bulk were calculated to be 48.2 and 55.7 kJ mol^?1, respectively. Polyacrylonitrile obtained was successfully used as a macroinitiator to proceed the chain extension polymerization in [C₄mim][BF₄] via a conventional ATRP process. [C₄mim][BF₄] and the catalyst system could be easily recycled and reused after simple purification and had no effect on the living nature of polymerization. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 2701–2707, 2008     

A Tandem Catalytic System for the Synthesis of Ethylene–Hex‐1‐ene Copolymers from Ethylene Stock

Summary: A tandem catalytic system, composed of (η⁵‐C₅H₄CMe₂C₆H₅)TiCl₃ ( 1 )/MMAO (modified methyl aluminoxane) and [(η⁵‐C₅Me₄)SiMe₂(tBuN)]TiCl₂ ( 2 )/MMAO, was applied for the synthesis of ethylene–hex‐1‐ene copolymers with ethylene as the only monomer stock. During the reaction, 1 /MMAO trimerized ethylene to hex‐1‐ene, while 2 /MMAO copolymerized ethylene with the in situ produced hex‐1‐ene to poly(ethylene–hex‐1‐ene). By changing the catalyst ratio and reaction conditions, a series of copolymer grades with different hex‐1‐ene fractions at high purity were effectively produced.

The overall strategy of the tandem 1 / 2 /MMAO catalytic system.     

STUDY ON CATIONIC RING-OPENING POLYMERIZATION MECHANISM OF 3-ETHYL-3-HYDROXYMETHYL OXETANE

ABSTRACT

Cationic ring-opening polymerization of 3-ethyl-3-hydroxylmethyl oxetane was carried out using BF₃·O(C₂H₅)₂ as initiator, and a branched polyether was formed. Typical SEC curves show that the polymer consists of two fractions: one has higher molecular weight (11.7×10⁴～ 9.2×10⁴) and the other has lower molecular weight (3.8×10³～4.0×10³). This probably resulted from the chain-tran sfer reaction of two propagating polymer chains. The structure of the polyEHMO formed was characterized by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra. The degree of branching is mainly affected by the propagation mechanism. As the molar ratio of [I]₀/[EHMO]₀ in feed increased, the degree of branching also increased.     

Aqueous cationic olefin polymerization using tris(pentafluorophenyl)gallium and aluminum

Tris(pentafluorophenyl)gallium ( 3 ) and aluminum ( 7 ) are active coinitiators for the production of medium‐high molecular weight (MW) polymers of styrene and isobutene (IB) under aqueous reaction conditions. Strong Brønsted acids formed in situ by reaction of these coinitiators with background moisture present in the monomer droplet ( 5 and 8 , respectively) are believed to be responsible for inducing cationic polymerization of these monomers. Of the two, 7 is the most active for IB polymerization in both aqueous media and anhydrous aliphatic solvents. These results are in contradistinction to tris(pentafluorophenyl)boron ( 2 ), which is incapable of polymerizing IB in aqueous or aliphatic media. The MWs of the polyisobutenes (PIBs) produced under aqueous conditions by either coinitiator greatly exceed those formed under similar reaction conditions by the strongly acidic chelating diborane (1,2‐C₆F₄[B(C₆F₅)₂]₂, 1 ) or diborole (1,2‐C₆F₄[9‐BC₁₂F₈]₂, 6 ). Both 3 and 7 are readily synthesized from the corresponding Group 13 halide compounds in conjunction with bis(pentafluorophenyl)zinc ( 4 ). Aqueous polymerization of IB dissolved in aliphatic solvents with 3 or 7 can yield PIBs with relatively narrow polydispersities. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Effect of two Kinds of Imidazolium Ionic Liquids on the Microemulsion Polymerization of Methyl methylacrylate

Summary: In this paper, the microemulsion polymerization of methyl methylacrylate (MMA) was carried out with single and gemini ionic liquids as emulsifier including 1-N-tetradecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide (C₁₄MIM · Br) and 1, 4-Bis (3-tetradecylimidazolium-1-yl) butane bromide (C₁₄MIM-4-C₁₄MIM · 2Br) respectively, and they were all have typical microemulsion polymerization characters of MMA, but the process of polymerization directly depends on the structure of the imidazolium ionic liquids. The structure and concentration of ionic liquids have effects on the resulted latex particle sizes of PMMA, and much smaller size latexes of PMMA could be gotten with C₁₄MIM · Br as emulsifier than C₁₄MIM-4-C₁₄MIM · 2Br in polymerization. On the other hand, the structure of emulsifier has the effects on the molecular weight (MW) and molecular weight distribution (MWD) of PMMA, so the resulting PMMA prepared from microemulsion polymerization with C₁₄MIM · Br as emulsifier has higher MW but narrower MWD than that of PMMA with the same dosage of C₁₄MIM-4-C₁₄MIM · 2Br as emulsifier.     

Inverse CO2/C2H2 Separation with MFU-4 and Selectivity Reversal via Postsynthetic Ligand Exchange

Although many porous materials, including metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), have been reported to selectively adsorb C₂H₂ in C₂H₂/CO₂ separation processes, CO₂-selective sorbents are much less common. Here, we report the remarkable performance of MFU-4 (Zn₅Cl₄(bbta)₃, bbta=benzo-1,2,4,5-bistriazolate) toward inverse CO₂/C₂H₂ separation. The MOF facilitates kinetic separation of CO₂ from C₂H₂, enabling the generation of high purity C₂H₂ (>98 %) with good productivity in dynamic breakthrough experiments. Adsorption kinetics measurements and computational studies show C₂H₂ is excluded from MFU-4 by narrow pore windows formed by Zn−Cl groups. Postsynthetic F⁻/Cl⁻ ligand exchange was used to synthesize an analogue ( MFU-4-F ) with expanded pore apertures, resulting in equilibrium C₂H₂/CO₂ separation with reversed selectivity compared to MFU-4 . MFU-4-F also exhibits a remarkably high C₂H₂ adsorption capacity (6.7 mmol g⁻¹), allowing fuel grade C₂H₂ (98 % purity) to be harvested from C₂H₂/CO₂ mixtures by room temperature desorption.     

Rare earth metal benzyl complexes bearing bridged-indenyl ligand for highly active polymerization of methyl methacrylate

The novel anionic bridged-indenyl rare earth metal benzyl complexes [{C₉H₆SiMe₂(CH₂)₂SiMe₂C₉H₆}Ln(CH₂C₆H₄-p-^tBu)₂][Li(THF)₄] (Ln = Y (1), Lu (2)) were synthesized by an acid-base reaction of C₉H₇SiMe₂(CH₂)₂SiMe₂C₉H₇ with one equiv. of rare earth metal trisbenzyl complexes, which were formed in situ from the reaction of anhydrous LnCl₃ with LiCH₂C₆H₄-p-^tBu in 1:3 molar ratio in THF. The complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, NMR spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, and X-ray structural analysis in the case of 2. Both complexes are active for the polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) to afford high molecular weight and narrow molecular weight distribution PMMA. The molecular weights of PMMA could be controlled using 1 as a polymerization initiator in chlorobenzene at −40 °C.