Ethylene polymerization using crosslinked polystyrene as support for zirconocene dichloride/methylaluminoxane

In this paper we report on a zirconocene dichloride/methylaluminoxane catalyst system supported on a crosslinked polystyrene in order to provide ethylene polymerization catalysts for gas phase or slurry processes. Our novel approach uses the Diels‐Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene functions as the final, cross‐linking synthetic step. This provides polymer supported zirconocene catalysts with a homogeneous distribution of active sites. The catalysts were shown to be highly active and to form spherical beads as proven by scanning electron microscopy.