Modeling of isospecific Ti sites in MgCl2 supported heterogeneous Ziegler-Natta catalysts

New models for the steric environment of Ti isospecific polymerization sites for poly(propylene) on MgCl₂ microcrystals are proposed. They directly involve a donor molecule in order to obtain isospecific activable Ti atoms otherwise belonging to isolated adsorbed TiCl₄ molecules or Ti₂Cl₈ dimers which are lacking of the required chirality for stereocontrol. The donor molecules able to attain at best this effect keep to some peculiar conformational rules settled by the authors in a previous theoretical-correlative study on highly active Lewis bases. The new 1,3-dimethoxypropane series suggested by the authors and recently patented by Montell has been examined in detail. Essentially three different types of closeness between Ti atoms and donor molecules can take place, in which different moieties of the diether compound help to build the ‘right’ steric environment in the site's neighbouring. In the three proposed models S1, S2, S3 the stereocontrol is attained through, respectively, one of the methoxy moieties, one of the methyls, and one of the central carbon atom substituents. New hypotheses on the role of Lewis bases in the preparation of isospecific heterogeneous Ziegler-Natta catalysts are discussed.     

Synthesis of polypropene-block-poly(ethylene-co-propene) by short-period polymerization with MgCl2-supported Ziegler catalyst

The short-period polymerization method was successfully applied to the synthesis of a novel diblock copolymer, polypropene-block-poly(ethylene-co-propene). The polymerization was carried out for ca. 0,1 s with a MgCl₂-supported Ziegler catalyst. The copolymers obtained showed unimodal curves in gel-permeation chromatography without any peak in the low-molecular-weight region. After extraction with heptane, the fraction of poly(ethylene-co-propene) remained unchanged in the copolymer but disappeared in a commercial so-called block-type copolymer. All the results the formation of polypropene-block-poly(ethylene-co-propene), in which poly(ethylene-co-propene) is chemically linked with polypropene.     

Probing the roles of diethylaluminum chloride in propylene polymerization with MgCl2-supported ziegler-natta catalysts

In this article, the effect of diethylaluminum chloride (DEAC) in propylene polymerization with MgCl₂-supported Ziegler-Natta catalyst was studied. Addition of DEAC in the catalyst system caused evident change in catalytic activity and polymer chain structure. The activity decrease in raising DEAC/Ti molar ratio from 0 to 2 is a result of depressed production of isotactic polypropylene chains. The number of active centers in fractions of each polymer sample was determined by quenching the polymerization with 2-thiophenecarbonyl chloride and fractionating the polymer into isotactic, mediumisotactic and atactic fractions. The number of active centers in isotactic fraction ([C_i*]/[Ti]) was lowered by increasing DEAC/Ti molar ratio to 2, but further increasing the DEAC/Ti molar ratio to 20 caused marked increase of [C_i*]/[Ti]. The number of active centers that produce atactic and medium-isotactic PP chains was less influenced by DEAC in the range of DEAC/Ti = 0–10, but increased when the DEAC/Ti molar ratio was further raised to 20. The propagation rate constant of C_i* (k _pi) was evidently increased when DEAC/Ti molar ratio was raised from 0 to 5, but further increase in DEAC/Ti ratio caused gradual decrease in k _pi. The complicated effect of DEAC on the polymerization kinetics, catalysis behaviors and polymer structure can be reasonably explained by adsorption of DEAC on the central metal of the active centers or on Mg atoms adjacent to the central metal.     

Characterization of the changes in the initial morphology for MgCl2-supported Ziegler-Natta polymerization catalysts

Recently considerable detail has become available on the initial morphology and the morphological changes that occur for silica based Cr catalysts for ethylene polymerization. These catalysts are produced as a dry powder and may be employed either in gas phase or in slurry processes. MgCl₂-supported Ziegler-Natta polymerization catalysts are often prepared and employed as slurries. They usually are never dried and thus few studies have employed the spectra of physical techniques common to the characterization of pore structure. In the current study, we have carefully removed the solvent for both ball-milled and precipitated MgCl₂-supported catalysts. These catalysts are characterized by physical sorption, mercury porosimetry, and electron microscopy both as prepared and during the initial stages of polymerization (to ～ 100 g of polymer/g of catalyst). We find that the initial catalyst may be represented by a complex agglomerate of small crystallites as contrasted with the branched pore network found in Cr/silica catalysts. As a result, it is concluded that the initial fragmentation of the MgCl₂ based systems is more uniform as contrasted with the progressive fragmentation of the silica-based system. This fragmentation mechanism facilitates the retention of greater polymer/catalyst surface during the initial stages of the polymerization. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Direct observation of MgCl2‐supported Ziegler catalysts by high resolution transmission electron microscopy

The surface atomic structure of MgCl₂ crystalline particles and MgCl₂‐supported Ziegler catalysts was observed by means of high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Step‐terrace surface structures, characteristic of the structure of the MgCl₂ crystal, are found in the observed images of MgCl₂ particles. The observation of the structure of MgCl₂‐supported Ziegler catalysts shows that the MgCl₂ crystals are severely deformed by the processes of catalyst preparation. Due to the preparation procedure used the structure of the catalyst changes from crystalline to amorphous.     

New penta-ether as the internal donor in the MgCl2-supported Ziegler-Natta catalysts for propylene polymerization

The penta-ether compound was synthesized by the reaction of di(trimethylolpropane) with sodium hydride as the strong base and methyl iodide as the alkyl halide. This compound was characterized by NMR, FTIR, and GC techniques. The MgCl₂-supported titanium catalysts were incorporated with varying amounts of penta-ether compound as the internal donor and also the catalysts without the internal donor were synthesized. The synthesized catalysts and the conventional Ziegler- Natta catalyst were characterized. The titanium contents were determined by spectrophotometry, magnesium by complexometric titration and chloride by argentometric titration. The effects of the new internal donor on propylene polymerization with the prepared MgCl₂-supported Ziegler-Natta catalysts were investigated and then these results were compared to the results obtained using the conventional diisobutyl phthalate-besed-Ziegler-Natta catalyst. The highest crystallinity degree, melting temperature, and isotacticity of polypropylene were obtained using the catalyst with a penta-ether/Mg molar ratio equal to 0.21.     

Investigation on the particle growth mechanism in propylene polymerization with MgCl2-supported ziegler–natta catalysts

To elucidate the particle growth mechanism in propylene polymerization with high-yield MgCl₂-supported Ziegler-Natta catalysts, observations have been carried out by electron microscopy on a series of samples having different degrees of polymer growth (from 0.1 to 1000 g/g of catalyst). Topics such as surface and bulk morphology, catalyst fragmentation, as well as distribution of the catalyst residues in the polymer have been investigated. The experimental data suggest that if the site distribution in the catalyst is uniform and the polymerization conditions are mild, the polymer growth starts uniformly throughout the catalyst particle, which then undergoes an even and progressive fragmentation into very fine units homeogeneously dispersed in the polymer matrix. The above results thus provide further experimental support to the particle growth mechanism outlined in the multigrain or polymeric flow models. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The activation of MgCl2-supported ziegler-natta catalysts—II: Correlation between activity and structural disorder

The properties have been examined for Ziegler-Natta catalysts comprising TiCl₄ (Ti contents 2.0, 3.4 and 4.2%) supported on MgCl₂ activated by dry ball-milling up to 250 hr. The samples have been investigated by measurements of catalytic activity in polymerization, of surface area and of some structural parameters related to the crystal disorder introduced by ball-milling. It is shown that the TiCl₄ content affects the activation; a relationship has been found between the crystal disorder of the MgCl₂ support and the catalytic activity.     

Detitanation of MgCl2‐supported Ziegler‐Natta catalysts for the study of active sites organization

Thermal treatments under vacuum of conventional supported Ziegler‐Natta precatalysts (MgCl₂/TiCl₄/Dibutylphthalate) were conducted to gradually remove titanium to modify the active sites distribution. Only limited detitanations of precatalysts were achieved paying attention not to chemically alter the internal donor (T < 150 °C). Used in combination with the required cocatalyst and external donor in the propylene slurry polymerization, the modified precatalysts exhibited a drop of activity versus decreasing titanium content but the distributed polymer properties are almost not affected (a slight narrowing of molecular weight distribution was observed). After a titanium chloride secondary impregnation (possibly done in presence of an additional Lewis base), activity resumed but polymer properties are once again unchanged. These findings highlight the difficulty to separate the different families of active sites and lead us to propose a cluster organization of titanium active sites. Active sites are composed of titanium clusters having a size distribution at the precatalyst surface, possessing a critical operating size and operating collectively in polymerization. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 5461–5470, 2008     

用于丙烯聚合的MgCl2负载Ziegler-Natta催化剂研究进展

综述了用于丙烯聚合的MgCl2负载Ziegler-Natta催化剂研究进展,包括内给电子体的发展及其作用研究,催化剂活性中心的模型,用MgCl2负载的Z-N催化剂制备抗冲聚丙烯合金.