Comparison of the role of new ethers and conventional alkoxysilanes as external donors in the polymerization of propylene using the industrial Ziegler-Natta catalyst

Two new ethers were synthesized using the Williamson reaction from related alcohols and were used as external donors in propylene polymerization in the presence of the industrial diisobutyl phthalate-based MgCl₂-supported Ziegler-Natta catalyst. For comparison the propylene polymerization was carried out in the presence of silane and in the absence of external donors. The produced polymers were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, xylene extraction, melt flow index, scanning electron microscopy and gel permeation chromatography. The isotacticity, molecular weight and molecular weight distribution, melt flow index, crystallinity degree and thermal properties of polypropylenes were influenced by the type of external donors.     

非邻苯二甲酸酯内给电子体聚丙烯催化剂的研究进展

本文综述了非邻苯二甲酸酯类内给电子体催化剂的研究进展,对目前已处于工业化应用的3种非邻苯二甲酸酯类化合物催化剂的性能特点进行了详细对比.针对日趋严格的清洁型聚丙烯要求,展望了非邻苯二甲酸酯类给电子体化合物以及相关催化剂的发展前景.     

Polydentate phosphine oxides as external electron donors for titanium-magnesium catalysts for propylene polymerization

The possibility of using R _n P(O)(CH₂OR′)_3—n (R = alkyl, R′ = methyl or acyl, n = 0–2) polydentate phosphine oxides as external electron donors for the titanium-magnesium catalysts for isotactic polypropylene synthesis is demonstrated for the first time. The kinetics of propylene polymerization in liquid monomer at 70°C and the isotacticity and molecular-weight characteristics of the resulting polypropylene are studied as functions of the nature of the substituents at the phosphorus atoms in the external donor and the molar ratio of the cocatalyst AlEt₃ to the external electron donor. Among the compounds examined, isoamyldi(methoxymethyl)phosphine oxide (R = iso-Am, R′ = Me, n = 1) is the most efficient. The isotacticity index of the polypropylene (PP) synthesized on the titanium-magnesium catalyst with this external donor is as high as 94–95%, and the activity of the catalyst (Cat) in the absence of hydrogen is 5.0–6.5 (kg PP) (g Cat)^?1 h^?1. With the optimum combination, the activity of this catalyst is ≈5 (kg PP) (g Cat)^?1 h^?1 and the isotacticity index is 94%. These parameters are close to those obtained for propylene polymerization in the absence of hydrogen on the same titanium-magnesium catalyst with phenyltriethoxysilane (external donor used in the industrial synthesis of PP): the activity is 5.6 (kg PP) (g Cat)^?1 h^?1, and the isotacticity index is 95%. The introduction of hydrogen into the reaction zone makes it possible to efficiently control the molecular weight of PP, increases the catalyst activity by a factor of 1.5–2.5, and somewhat decreases the isotacticity index (from 94 to 91–92%).     

Kinetic studies on propylene polymerization using high-activity silica-supported Ziegler-Natta catalysts

This study concerns the use of silica-supported high-activity Ziegler-Natta catalysts for the polymerization of propylene under slurry conditions. In particular, two types of silica supports are investigated, viz, non-spray-dried and spray-dried materials. The effects of support structure on kinetic behavior are examined in some detail. The distribution of active centers in these silica-supported catalysts is investigated by EDAX and the morphologies of the catalyst particles and the polymer products are recorded by SEM. The results obtained are correlated with the kinetic behavior of the two catalyst systems and appropriate models for polymer particle growth are presented. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

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.     

Exploring Si/Mg composite supported Ziegler-Natta Ti-based catalysts for propylene polymerization

A series of(Si_O2/MgO/ID/MgCl_2)·TiClx Ziegler-Natta catalysts for propylene polymerization has been prepared with a new method. These catalysts were synthesized using soluble Mg-compounds as the Mg-source and the preparation progress was relatively simple. The catalyst could copy the spherical shape of the carrier very well. The propylene polymerization results showed that the catalyst revealed the best activity with 9,9-di(methoxymethyl)fluorene(BMMF) as internal donor at 50 °C with the optimal molar ratio Al/Ti = 5, which was much lower than what the industrial polypropylene catalyst used(at least molar ratio Al/Ti = 100), resulting in great cost saving. Additionally, the polymerization kinetics of the catalyst exhibited very stable property after achieving a relatively high value. These catalysts possessed rather high activity and good hydrogen response. The isotactic index(Ⅱ.) value of the PP products could be higher than 98% in the presence of both internal and external electron donors. Moreover, temperature rising elution fractionation method was used to understand the influence of donors and H2 on the properties of the PP products.     

Effect of electron donors on polymerization of propylene in the presence of titanium-magnesium catalysts

The effect of internal and external electron donors on the polymerization of propylene in a liquid monomer or a hydrocarbon diluent (hexane) in the presence of a titanium-magnesium nanocatalyst activated with an organoaluminum compound (triethylaluminum, triisobutylaluminum) and the properties of the resulting PP are studied. The polymerization of propylene in the absence of internal and external donors yields atactic PP, whereas, in the presence of a catalyst containing an aryl internal donor, isotactic PP is formed. The activity and stereospecificity of the catalytic system substantially depends on the method of electron-donor introduction. The thermal treatment of the catalyst with an electron donor affects its activity and stereospecificity.     

Density functional study on the role of electron donors in propylene polymerization using Ziegler-Natta catalyst

The role of electron donors in propylene polymerization using Ziegler-Natta model catalyst [TiCl₂CH₃]⁺ has been investigated using density functional calculations at B3LYP/6-31G* level. Methyl benzoate (MBz) and para-methoxy methyl benzoate (p-OMe-MBz) are the electron donors considered in this study. We have found two major roles of these electron donors that match well with the corresponding experimental results. First, for both the catalysts having different electron donors, the propylene insertion in Ti-CH₃ bond in syn-fashion rather than anti-fashion has lower activation barriers (E_act). This indicates that the regioselectivity of propylene insertion is maintained in the presence of the electron donors. Secondly, co-ordination of electron donors is found to increase the activation barriers of propylene insertion, which explains the experimentally observed drop in catalytic activity of [TiCl₂Me]⁺ on adding electron donors.     

Study of Ziegler-Natta catalysts. Part III. Effect of the structure of titanium trichloride on the polymerization of propylene

In addition to differences among the various modifications of TiCl₃ there may be certain structural differences even among α-TiCl₃ samples prepared by differences methods. Electron microscopic examination of two samples has revealed widely different free surfaces, in spite of the fact that both the specific surfaces (measured by adsorption) and the polymerization activities were identical. This might be explained by the finding that the surfaces of the free lateral planes and the quantities of the free edges are the same. This explanation is in agreement with the assumption of Rodriguez and his co-workers that the active centers of polymerization are situated on the lateral planes and edges of the TiCl₃ crystals.     

Homogeneous vanadium-based catalysts for the Ziegler-Natta polymerization of alpha-olefins

Although their activity is often inferior to that of other systems, the use of vanadium-based catalysts in homogeneous Ziegler-Natta polymerizations allows the preparation of high-molecular-weight polymers with narrow molecular-weight distributions, ethene/alpha-olefin copolymers with high alpha-olefin incorporation, and syndiotactic polypropene. The main reason for the low activity of these catalysts is their deactivation during catalysis by reduction of active vanadium species to low-valent, less active or inactive species. We here present an up-to-date review of this area with particular emphasis on the attempts to improve catalyst performance and stability by the use of additives or ancillary ligands.     

Supported catalysts for stereospecific polymerization of propylene

Tetrabenzyltitanium (B₄Ti), tribenzyltitanium chloride (B₃TiCl), tetra(p-methylbenzyl)titanium (R₄Ti) and tri(p-methylbenzyl)titanium chloride (R₃TiCl) have been used as catalysts for ethylene and propylene polymerization activated by AlEt₂Cl. B₄Ti-AIEt₂Cl in solution polymerizes ethylene readily but its activity decays rapidly. B₄Ti was also supported on Cab-O-Sil, Alon C, and Mg(OH)Cl. The last support was found to give catalyst with longest lifetime with a rate of polymerization, R_p = 7.0 g/hr-mmole Ti-atm ethylene. ¹⁴CO counting techniques gave 1.13 × 10^?3 mole of propagating center per mole of B₄Ti; the rate constant of propagation, k_p = 540 l./mole-sec. None of the tetravalent titanium compounds polymerize propylene in solution. However, when supported on Mg(OH)Cl, Cab-O-Sil, Alon C, Cab-O-Ti, and charcoal, they all polymerize propylene. In this work the supports were characterized by various techniques, including the paramagnetic probe method, to determine the concentration and nature of surface hydroxyls. Those factors controlling the rate and stereospecificity of propylene polymerization were investigated. The system B₃TiCl–Mg(OH)Cl–AlEt₂Cl is the most active with R_p = 2.89 g/hr-mmole Ti-atm propylene. The concentration of propagation center is 0.9 × 10^?3 mole per mole of B₃TiCl; k_p = 32 l./mole-sec. This catalyst gave only about 70% stereoregular polymer. Diethyl ether is found to raise stereospecificity to 100%, but there is a concommittent tenfold decrease of activity. Other interesting catalyst systems are: (π-C₅H₅)TiMe₃–Mg(OH)Cl–AlEt₂Cl (1.56, 89.5); (π-C₅H₅)TiMe₂–Mg(OH)Cl–AlEt₂Cl (0.075, 94.5); and (π-C₅H₅)TiMe₃–Alon C–Al-Et₂Cl (0.08,97.2), where the first number in the parenthesis is R_p in g/mmole Ti-hr-atm and the second entry corresponds to percentage yield of stereoregular polypropylene. Hafnocene and titanocene supported on Mg(OH)Cl produce only oligomers of propylene.     

Effects of external donors and hydrogen concentration on oligomer formation and chain end distribution in propylene polymerization with Ziegler‐Natta catalysts

The effect of type and concentration of external donor and hydrogen concentration on oligomer formation and chain end distribution were studied. Bulk polymerization of propylene was carried out with two different Ziegler‐Natta catalysts at 70 °C, one a novel self‐supported catalyst (A) and the other a conventional MgCl₂‐supported catalyst (B) with triethyl aluminum as cocatalyst. The external donors used were dicyclopentyl dimethoxy silane (DCP) and cyclohexylmethyl dimethoxy silane (CHM). The oligomer amount was shown to be strongly dependent on the molecular weight of the polymer. Catalyst A gave approximately 50 % lower oligomer content than catalyst B due to narrower molecular weight distribution in case of catalyst A. More n‐Bu‐terminated chain ends were found for catalyst A indicating more frequent 2,1 insertions. Catalyst A also gave more vinylidene‐terminated oligomers, suggesting that chain transfer to monomer, responsible for the vinylidene chain ends, was a more important chain termination mechanism for this catalyst, especially at low hydrogen concentration. Low site selectivity, due to low external donor concentration or use of a weak external donor (CHM), was also found to increase formation of vinylidene‐terminated oligomers. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 351–358, 2010     

Cyclopentadienyl titanium hydroxylaminato complexes as highly active catalysts for the polymerization of propylene

Half sandwich complexes of titanium bearing eta1 or eta2 bound nitroxide ligands are highly active catalysts for the polymerisation of propylene to high molecular weight atactic poly(propylene).     

Studies of Ziegler-type catalysts for the polymerization of ethylene and propylene—III the polymerization of propylene with TiCl4-MgCl2-based catalysts

It has been confirmed that a reaction product of TiCl₄ and MgCl₂ is an extremely active catalyst for the polymerization of propylene. This catalyst is markedly different from the usual Ziegler-Natta TiCl₃ catalyst in the dependence of its reactivity on additions of aluminium alkyl co-catalyst and Lewis base.     

Stereo- and enantioselective polymerization of hexa-1,5-diene on heterogeneous Ziegler-Natta catalysts obtained with the use of optically active internal donors

Pure racemates and individual enantiomers of diethyl 2,3-diisopropylsuccinate ((+,−)-DIPS and (−)-DIPS) and 2,3-diisopropyl-1,4-dimethoxybutane ((+,−)-DPDMB and (+)-DPDMB) were prepared. The synthesized compounds and diethyl phthalate were used as internal donors for the preparation of heterogeneous Ziegler-Natta catalysts. Polymerization of hexa-1,5-diene was carried out on these catalysts. The obtained samples of poly(methylene-1,3-cyclopentane) were studied by ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and polarimetry. The induction of optical activity to polymer is observed with (−)-DIPS as the internal donor. The induction value makes up 15–20% from the value recorded in the case of optically active metallocene catalysts. The emergence of induction may be associated with the presence of close contact between the titanium atom and the donor molecule within the active site of catalyst, as well as with the fact that the donor molecule either deactivates a part of the stereospecific titanium centers or influences the structure of the titanium centers during their formation and development.     

Ansa bis(fluorenyl) complexes as homogeneous catalysts for propylene polymerization

Preparation and characterization of new ansa-metallocene complexes containing two substituted fluorenyl ligands connected by an R₂E bridge (R = Me, Ph; E = Si, Sn) are reported. The complexes, activated with methylaluminoxane (MAO), polymerize propylene. The degree of stereospecifity of the propylene polymerization depends on the size of the hetero atom in the bridge and the position of the substituents.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 9, pp. 2334–2339, September, 1996.     

Effect of the zeolite support on the polymerization of propylene with immobilized ansa-zirconocene catalysts

Anchored aluminoxanes are synthesized by the reaction of aluminum alkyls AlMe₃ and Al(i-Bu)₃ with water contained in the intracrystalline cavities of synthetic and natural zeolites (NaY (Si: Al = 5), HZSM-5 (Si: Al = 17 or 34), NH₄ZSM-5 (Si: Al = 32), NaZSM-5 (Si: Al = 42), and clinoptilolite-containing tuff) and are used for the synthesis of heterogenized complexes of ansa-zirconocenes (rac-C₂H₄(Ind)₂ZrCl₂, rac-Me₂Si(Ind)₂ZrCl₂, and rac-[1-(9-η⁵-Flu)-2-(5,6-cyclopenta-2-Me-1-η⁵-Ind)C₂H₄]ZrCl₂) active in the polymerization of propylene. The nature of the zeolite support determines the content of zeolite water and affects the formation of anchored alkylaluminoxanes and the activity of immobilized catalysts. Among the studied catalytic systems supported on zeolites, NaY and NaZSM-5 are the most efficient for the polymerization of propylene. PP synthesized with the supported zirconocene catalysts has a higher molecular mass and a wider molecular-mass distribution than those in the case of the corresponding homogeneous catalyst. The index of isotacticity and the content of pentads mmmm in PP prepared with immobilized metallocenes with the C ₂ symmetry, such as rac-C₂H₄(Ind)₂ZrCl₂ and rac-Me₂Si(Ind)₂ZrCl₂, are likewise higher. The stereoselectivity of supported catalysts depends on the zeolite nature.     

Molecular mechanics and the polymerization mechanism of homogeneous and heterogeneous Ziegler-Natta catalysts

Examples of the application of simple molecular mechanics techniques to the study of the polymerization mechanism of various types of Ziegler-Natta catalysts are reported. Details are given on the new mechanism of enantioselectivity suggested by molecular mechanics studies. The validity of the latter, involving a “chiral orientation of the growing chain” which had never been suspected before, has been experimentally proved both for homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis.