Structure–property transition‐state model for the copolymerization of ethene and 1‐hexene with experimental and theoretical applications to novel disilylene‐bridged zirconocenes

Ethene homopolymerization and copolymerization with 1‐hexene were performed with three new tetramethyldisilylene‐bridged zirconocene catalysts with 2‐indenyl ligand ( A ), 2‐tetrahydroindenyl ligand ( B ), and tetramethyl‐cyclopentadienyl ligand ( C ) and with methylaluminoxane as a cocatalyst. Catalysts A and B showed substantial comonomer incorporation, resulting in a copolymer melting temperature more than 20° lower than that of the corresponding homopolymer. In contrast, catalyst C produced a copolymer with a low 1‐hexene content and a high melting temperature. The reduction in the molecular weight with 1‐hexene addition also correlated well with the comonomer incorporation. For all three catalysts, the homopolymer and copolymer unsaturations indicated frequent chain termination after 1‐hexene insertion and a high degree of chain‐end isomerization during the homopolymerization of ethene. The chain transfer to Al in the cocatalyst also appeared to be important. The comonomer response could be correlated with the structural properties of the catalyst, as derived from quantum chemical calculations. A linear model, calibrated against recent experiments with unbridged (Me_nC₅H_5?n)₂ZrCl₂ catalysts, suggested that the low comonomer incorporation obtained with catalyst C was caused partly by a narrow opening angle between the aromatic ligands and partly by steric hindrance in the transition state of comonomer insertion. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1622–1631, 2003     

Unconstrained geometry complexes: Ethylene/α‐olefin copolymerizations with a tetramethyldisilyl‐bridged Cp‐amido titanium complex

A new disilyl‐bridged complex, [(N‐tert‐butylamido)(3‐indenyl)tetramethyldisilyl]titanium dichloride ( 3 ), was synthesized and activated with methylaluminoxane (MAO) for propylene homopolymerization and ethylene/propylene and ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerizations. A polypropylene with a slight isotactic enrichment was obtained. The number of regioerrors present in the polypropylene was somewhat smaller than that found in most polypropylenes made from monosilyl‐bridged [(N‐tert‐butylamido)(3‐indenyl)dimethylsilyl]titanium dichloride. The regioerrors detected in the copolymers obtained from 3 /MAO were on the order of the amounts observed in polymers made with the monosilyl‐bridged constrained geometry catalysts. Ethylene copolymers of propylene and 1‐hexene had random sequence distributions and showed significant comonomer incorporation. Because of the presence of regioerrors, a modified method for determining the monomer composition and sequence distribution was developed from the direct measurement of the monomer content from the number of methylene and methine carbons per polymer chain, regardless of propylene inversion. An estimate of the error in the copolymerization reactivity ratio determination for regioirregular ethylene/α‐olefin copolymers was obtained by the calculation of the reactivity ratios from monomer dyad sequences, with consideration given to the contribution of major regioirregular sequences. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 3840–3851, 2005     

High molar mass ethene/1‐olefin copolymers synthesized with acenaphthyl substituted metallocene catalysts

The influence of ligand structure on copolymerization properties of metallocene catalysts was elucidated with three C₁‐symmetric methylalumoxane (MAO) activated zirconocene dichlorides, ethylene(1‐(7, 9)‐diphenylcyclopenta‐[a]‐acenaphthadienyl‐2‐phenyl‐2‐cyclopentadienyl)ZrCl₂ ( 1 ), ethylene(1‐(7, 9)‐diphenylcyclopenta‐[a]‐acenaphthadienyl‐2‐phenyl‐2‐fluorenyl)ZrCl₂ ( 2 ), and ethylene(1‐(9)‐fluorenyl‐(R)1‐phenyl‐2‐(1‐indenyl)ZrCl2 ( 3 ). Polyethenes produced with 1 /MAO had considerable, ca. 10% amount of trans‐vinylene end groups, resulting from the chain end isomerization prior to the chain termination. When ethene was copolymerized with 1‐hexene or 1‐hexadecene using 1 /MAO, molar mass of the copolymers varied from high to moderate (531–116 kg/mol) depending on the comonomer feed. At 50% comonomer feed, ethene/1‐olefin copolymers with high hexene or hexadecene content (around 10%) were achievable. In the series of catalysts, polyethenes with highest molar mass, up to 985 kg/mol, were obtained with sterically most crowded 2 /MAO, but the catalyst was only moderately active to copolymerize higher olefins. Catalyst 3 /MAO produced polyethenes with extremely small amounts of trans‐vinylene end groups and relatively low molar mass 1‐hexene copolymers (from 157 to 38 kg/mol) with similar comonomer content as 1 . These results indicate that the catalyst structure, which favors chain end isomerization, is also capable to produce high molar mass 1‐olefin copolymers with high comonomer content. In addition, an exceptionally strong synergetic effect of the comonomer on the polymerization activity was observed with catalyst 3 /MAO. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 373–382, 2008     

Copolymerization behavior of titanium imidazolin‐2‐iminato complexes

Monocyclopentadienyl titanium imidazolin‐2‐iminato complexes [Cp′Ti(L)X₂] 1a (Cp′ = cyclopentadienyl, L = 1,3‐di‐tert‐butylimidazolin‐2‐imide, X = Cl), 1b (X = CH₃); 2 (Cp′ = cyclopentadienyl, L = 1,3‐diisopropylimidazolin‐2‐imide, X = Cl); 3 (Cp′ = tert‐butylcyclopentadienyl, L = 1,3‐di‐tert‐butylimidazolin‐2‐imide, X = Cl), upon activation with methylaluminoxane (MAO) were active for the polymerization of ethylene and propylene and the copolymerization of ethylene and 1‐hexene. Catalysts derived from imidazolin‐2‐iminato tropidinyl titanium complex 4 = [(Trop)Ti(L)Cl₂] (Trop = tropidinyl, L = 1,3‐di‐tert‐butylimidazolin‐2‐imide) were much less active. Narrow polydispersities were observed for ethylene and propylene polymerization, but the copolymerization of ethylene/hexene led to bimodal molecular weight distributions. The productivity of catalysts derived from the dialkyl complex 1b activated with [Ph₃C][B(C₆F₅)₄] or B(C₆F₅)₃ were less active for ethylene/hexene copolymerization but yielded ethylene/hexene copolymers of narrower molecular weight distributions than those derived from 1a/MAO. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 6064–6070, 2008     

Zeolite‐supported metallocene catalyst for ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization

Commercial zeolite acid mordenite was thermally treated for use as a support for bis(n‐butyl‐cyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride [(n‐BuCp)₂ZrCl₂] for the further evaluation of ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization. The polymerization time, temperature, and solvent, as well as the addition of tri(isobutyl)aluminum in the hexane medium, were evaluated. The catalytic activity and 1‐hexene content in the copolymer synthesized with the supported system were very near those obtained with the homogeneous precursor. A comonomer effect was observed for both systems. The polymerization rate profiles were obtained for ethylene polymerization, and the activation energy and monomer reactivity were calculated. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 3038–3048, 2004     

Kinetics of ethylene polymerization reactions with chromium oxide catalysts

Principal kinetic data are presented for ethylene homopolymerization and ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization reactions with two types of chromium oxide catalyst. The reaction rate of the homopolymerization reaction is first order with respect to ethylene concentration (both for gas‐phase and slurry reactions); its effective activation energy is 10.2 kcal/mol (42.8 kJ/mol). The r₁ value for ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization reactions with the catalysts is ～30, which places these catalysts in terms of efficiency of α‐olefin copolymerization with ethylene between metallocene catalysts (r₁ ～ 20) and Ti‐based Ziegler‐Natta catalysts (r₁ in the 80–120 range). GPC, DSC, and Crystaf data for ethylene/1‐hexene copolymers of different compositions produced with the catalysts show that the reaction products have broad molecular weight and compositional distributions. A combination of kinetic data and structural data for the copolymers provided detailed information about the frequency of chain transfer reactions for several types of active centers present in the catalysts, their copolymerization efficiency, and stability. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 5315–5329, 2008     

Copolymerization of ethylene and α‐olefins with combined metallocene catalysts. II. Mathematical modeling of polymerization with single metallocene catalysts

The relation between the polymerization conditions and the distributions of molecular weight (MWD) and chemical composition (CCD) of poly(ethylene‐co‐1‐hexene) made with single supported metallocene catalysts was investigated. Understanding the behavior of each metallocene under different polymerization conditions is necessary for designing combined metallocene catalysts to produce tailor‐made polyolefins. In this article, a simple mathematical model based on experimental results is developed and combined with the bimodality criterion developed in Part I of this series to predict polymerization conditions and metallocene combinations that will produce polymers with desired MWDs and CCDs. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 1417–1426, 2000     

Homopolymerizations and random copolymerizations of olefins with amino‐substituted cyclopentadienylchromium complexes

1‐(2‐N,N‐Dimethylaminoethyl)‐2,3,4,5‐tetramethylcyclopentadienyl‐chromium dichloride ( 1 ), (2‐N,N‐dimethylaminoethyl)cyclopentadienylchromium dichloride ( 6 ), and (2‐N,N‐dimethylaminoethyl)indenylchromium dichloride ( 7 ) in the presence of modified methylaluminoxane exhibit high catalytic activities for the polymerization of ethylene with random copolymerizations of ethylene with propylene, ethylene with 1‐hexene, and propylene with 1‐hexene. These initiators conduct polymerizations to give high molecular weight polymers with low polydispersities. However, the stereoregularities are very poor in these reactions. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 2759–2771, 2002     

Synthesis of ethylene‐1‐hexene copolymers from ethylene stock by tandem action of bis(2‐dodecylsulfanyl‐ethyl) amine‐CrCl3 and Et(Ind)2ZrCl2

In this work, ethylene‐1‐hexene copolymers were synthesized with a tandem catalysis system that consisted of a new trimerization catalyst bis(2‐dodecylsulfanyl‐ethyl) amine‐CrCl₃/MAO ( 1 /MAO) and copolymerization catalyst Et(Ind)₂ZrCl₂/MAO ( 2 /MAO) at atmosphere pressure. Catalyst 1 trimerized ethylene with high activity and excellent selectivity in the presence of a relatively low amount of MAO. Catalyst 2 incorporated the 1‐hexene content and produced ethylene‐1‐hexene copolymer from an ethylene‐only stock in the same reactor. Adjusting the Cr/Zr ratio and reaction temperature yielded various branching densities and thus melting temperatures. However, broad DSC curves were observed when low temperatures and/or high Cr/Zr ratios were employed due to an accumulation of 1‐hexene component and composition drifting during the copolymerization. It was found that a short pretrimerization period resulted in more homogeneous materials that gave unimodal DSC curves. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3562–3569, 2007     

α‐olefin homopolymerization and ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization catalysed by novel ansa‐group IV complexes/MAO system

The catalytic properties of a set of ansa‐complexes (R‐Ph)₂C(Cp)(Ind)MCl₂ [R = ^tBu, M = Ti ( 3 ), Zr ( 4 ) or Hf ( 5 ); R = MeO, M = Zr ( 6 ), Hf ( 7 )] in α‐olefin homopolymerization and ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization were explored in the presence of MAO (methylaluminoxane). Complex 4 with steric bulk ^tBu group on phenyl exhibited remarkable catalytic activity for ethylene polymerization. It was 1.6‐fold more active than complex 11 [Ph₂C(Cp)(Ind)ZrCl₂] at 11 atm ethylene pressure and was 4.8‐fold more active at 1 atm pressure. The introduction of bulk substituent ^tBu into phenyl groups not only increased the catalytic activity greatly but also enhanced the content of 1‐hexene in ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization. The highest 1‐hexene incorporation was 25.4%. In addition, 4 was also active for propylene and 1‐hexene homopolymerization, respectively, and low isotactic polypropylene (mmmm = 11.3%) and isotactic polyhexene (mmmm = 31.6%) were obtained. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ethylene polymerization reactions with multicenter Ziegler‐Natta catalysts—Manipulation of active center distribution

This article describes ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization reactions with a supported titanium‐based, multicenter Ziegler‐Natta catalyst. The catalyst was modified by pretreating its solid precursor with AlEt₂Cl and with similar organoaluminum chlorides, Al₂Et₃Cl₃, AlEtCl₂, and AlMe₂Cl. Testing of the untreated and the pretreated catalysts in copolymerization reactions under standard reaction conditions demonstrated that the modifying agents produce two changes in the catalyst. First, the pretreatment significantly reduces the reactivity of active centers that produce high molecular weight, highly crystalline copolymer components with a low 1‐hexene content. Second, the pretreatment noticeably increases the reactivity of active centers that produce low molecular weight copolymer components with a high 1‐hexene content. The first effect is caused by Lewis acid‐base interactions of the modifiers with the active centers, whereas the second (activating) effect is due to the removal of catalyst poisons (organosilicon compounds generated in the process of the catalyst synthesis) by AlEt₂Cl. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 4219–4229, 2010     

Copolymerization of ethylene with acrylonitrile promoted by novel nonmetallocene catalysts with phenoxy‐imine ligands

A series of novel nonmetallocene catalysts with phenoxy‐imine ligands was synthesized by the treatment of phthaldialdehyde, substituted phenol with TiCl₄, ZrCl₄, and YCl₃ in THF. The structures and properties of the catalysts were characterized by ¹H NMR and elemental analysis. These catalysts were used for copolymerization of ethylene with acrylonitrile after activated by methylaluminoxane (MAO). The effects of copolymerization temperature, Al/M (M = Ti, Zr, and Y) ratio in mole, concentrations of catalyst and comonomer on the polymerization behaviors were investigated in detail. These results revealed that these catalysts were favorable for copolymerization of ethylene with acrylonitrile. Cat. 3 was the most favorable one for the copolymerization of ethylene with acrylonitrile, and the catalytic activity was up to 2.19 × 10⁴ g PE/mol.Ti.h under the conditions: polymerization temperature of 50 °C, Al/Ti molar ratio of 300, catalyst concentration of 1.0 × 10^–4 mol/L, and toluene as solvent. The resultant polymer was characterized by FTIR, cross‐polarization magic angle spinning, ¹³C NMR, WAXD, GPC, and DSC. The results confirmed that the obtained copolymer featured high‐weight–average molecular weight, narrow molecular weight distribution about 1.61–1.95, and high‐acrylonitrile incorporation up to 2.29 mol %. Melting temperature of the copolymer depended on the content of acrylonitrile incorporation within the copolymer chain. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization with tetramethyldisiloxane‐bridged bis(indenyl) metallocenes

Ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerizations with disiloxane‐bridged metallocenes, rac‐ and meso‐1,1,3,3‐tetramethyldisiloxanediyl‐bis(1‐indenyl)zirconium dichloride (rac‐ 1 , meso‐ 1 ) activated by modified methylaluminoxane were performed to investigate the influence of conformational dynamics on comonomer selectivity. Although ¹H NOESY (nuclear Overhauser and exchange spectroscopy) analysis indicated that the most stable conformation for the meso isomer in solution was that in which both indenes project over the metal coordination site, this isomer showed higher 1‐hexene selectivity in copolymerization (r_e = 140 ± 30, r_h = 0.024 ± 0.004) than the rac isomer with only one indene over the coordination site (r_e = 240 ± 20, r_h = 0.005 ± 0.001). The meso isomer showed high 1‐hexene selectivity, a high product of reactivity ratios (r_er_h = 3.3 ± 0.5) and produced copolymers that could be separated into fractions with different ethylene content suggesting that the active species exhibited multisite behavior and populated conformations with different comonomer selectivities during the copolymerization. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 3323–3331, 2004     

Olefin polymerization and copolymerization with soluble transition‐metal complex catalysts

Olefin polymerizations catalyzed by Cp′TiCl₂(O‐2,6‐ⁱPr₂C₆H₃) ( 1 – 5 ; Cp′ = cyclopentadienyl group), RuCl₂(ethylene)(pybox) { 7 ; pybox = 2,6‐bis[(4S)‐4‐isopropyl‐2‐oxazolin‐2‐yl]pyridine}, and FeCl₂(pybox) ( 8 ) were investigated in the presence of a cocatalyst. The Cp*TiCl₂(O‐2,6‐ⁱPr₂C₆H₃) ( 5 )–methylaluminoxane (MAO) catalyst exhibited remarkable catalytic activity for both ethylene and 1‐hexene polymerizations, and the effect of the substituents on the cyclopentadienyl group was an important factor for the catalytic activity. A high level of 1‐hexene incorporation and a lower r_E · r_H value with 5 than with [Me₂Si(C₅Me₄)(N^tBu)]TiCl₂ ( 6 ) were obtained, despite the rather wide bond angle of Cp Ti O (120.5°) of 5 compared with the bond angle of Cp Ti N of 6 (107.6°). The 7 –MAO catalyst exhibited moderate catalytic activity for ethylene homopolymerization and ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization, and the resultant copolymer incorporated 1‐hexene. The 8 –MAO catalyst also exhibited activity for ethylene polymerization, and an attempted ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization gave linear polyethylene. The efficient polymerization of a norbornene macromonomer bearing a ring‐opened poly(norbornene) substituent was accomplished by ringopening metathesis polymerization with the well‐defined Mo(CHCMe₂Ph)(N‐2,6‐ⁱPr₂C₆H₃)[OCMe(CF₃)₂]₂ ( 10 ). The key step for the macromonomer synthesis was the exclusive end‐capping of the ring‐opened poly(norbornene) with p‐Me₃SiOC₆H₄CHO, and the use of 10 was effective for this polymerization proceeding with complete conversion. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 4613–4626, 2000     

Ethylene/1‐hexene copolymers synthesized with a single‐site catalyst: Crystallization analysis fractionation,modeling, and reactivity ratio estimation

A series of poly(ethylene‐co‐1‐hexene) samples made with rac‐ethylene bis(indenyl)zirconium dichloride/methylaluminoxane were analyzed by crystallization analysis fractionation (CRYSTAF). The nine samples had comonomer contents of 0–4.2 mol % 1‐hexene with a narrow range of molecular weights (34,000–39,000 g/mol). Because all the copolymer samples had narrow, unimodal chemical composition distributions, they were ideal as calibration standards for CRYSTAF. A linear calibration curve was constructed relating the peak crystallization temperature from CRYSTAF operated at a cooling rate of 0.1 °C/min and the comonomer content as determined by ¹³C NMR. Reactivity ratios for ethylene and 1‐hexene were estimated by the fitting of reactant liquid‐phase compositional data to the Mayo–Lewis equation. It was found that a value of the 1‐hexene reactivity ratio could not be unequivocally determined from the set of samples analyzed because the range of comonomer incorporation was too narrow. Stockmayer's bivariate distribution was used to model the fractionation process in CRYSTAF, and although a good fit to experimental CRYSTAF profiles was attained, the model did not fully describe the underlying crystallization phenomena. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 2595–2611, 2002     

Homo‐ and copolymerization of ethylene and norbornene with bis(β‐diketiminato) titanium complexes activated with methylaluminoxane

Homo‐ and copolymerization of ethylene and norbornene were investigated with bis(β‐diketiminato) titanium complexes [ArNC(CR₃)CHC(CR₃)NAr]₂TiCl₂ (R = F, Ar = 2,6‐diisopropylphenyl 2a; R = F, Ar = 2,6‐dimethylphenyl 2b ; R = H, Ar = 2,6‐diisopropylphenyl 2c ; R = H, Ar = 2,6‐dimethylphenyl 2d) in the presence of methylaluminoxane (MAO). The influence of steric and electric effects of complexes on catalytic activity was evaluated. With MAO as cocatalyst, complexes 2a–d are moderately active catalysts for ethylene polymerization producing high‐molecular weight polyethylenes bearing linear structures, but low active catalysts for norbornene polymerization. Moreover, 2a – d are also active ethylene–norbornene (E–N) copolymerization catalysts. The incorporation of norbornene in the E–N copolymer could be controlled by varying the charged norbornene. ¹³C NMR analyses showed the microstructures of the E–N copolymers were predominantly alternated and isolated norbornene units in copolymer, dyad, and triad sequences of norbornene were detected in the E–N copolymers with high incorporated content of norbornene. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 93–101, 2008     

Influences of steric bulkiness in hydrotris(pyrazolyl)borate ligands on ethylene polymerization reaction

Manganese(II) complex catalysts with hydrotris(pyrazolyl)borate ligands have been examined on their catalytic performance in ethylene polymerization and ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization. The activities of [Mn(L6)(Cl)(NCMe)] ( 1 ) and [Mn(L10)(Cl)] ( 2 ) activated by Al(i‐Bu)₃/[Ph₃C][B(C₆F₅)₄] for ethylene polymerization go up to 326 and 11 kg mol (cat^?1) h^?1, respectively, (L6^? = hydrotris(3‐phenyl‐5‐methyl‐1‐pyrazolyl)borate anion, L10^? = hydrotris(3‐adamantyl‐5‐isopropyl‐1‐pyrazolyl)borate anion). In particular, for ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization, complex 1 gives high‐molecular‐weight poly(ethylene‐co‐1‐hexene)s with the highest M_w of 439,000 in manganese olefin polymerization catalyst systems. Moreover, the 1‐hexene incorporation by complex 1 seems more efficient than that by [Mn(L3)(Cl)] ( 4 ) (L3^? = hydrotris(3‐tertiary butyl‐5‐isopropyl‐1‐pyrazolyl)borate anion). In this work, we demonstrated that the coordination geometry and coordination number are also important factors for ethylene polymerization reaction as well as steric hindrances and ligand frameworks in our manganese(II) catalysts. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 5720–5727, 2009     

Half‐lanthanocene/dialkylmagnesium‐mediated coordinative chain transfer copolymerization of styrene and hexene

The Cp*La(BH₄)₂(THF)₂/n‐butylethylmagnesium (BEM) catalytic system has been assessed for the coordinative chain transfer copolymerization of styrene and 1‐hexene. Poly(styrene‐co‐hexene) statistical copolymers were obtained with number‐average molecular weight up to 7600 g/mol, PDI around 1.4 and 1.5 and up to 23% hexene content. The occurence of chain transfer reactions in the presence of excess BEM is established in the course of the statistical copolymerization. Thanks to this transfer process, the quantity of 1‐hexene in the copolymer is increased by a factor of about 3 for high ratio of hexene in the feed, extending the range of our concept of a chain transfer induced control of the composition of statistical copolymers to poly(styrene‐co‐hexene) copolymers. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Copolymerization of propylene with 1,3‐butadiene using isospecific zirconocene catalysts

Poly(propylene‐ran‐1,3‐butadiene) was synthesized using isospecific zirconocene catalysts and converted to telechelic isotactic polypropylene by metathesis degradation with ethylene. The copolymers obtained with isospecific C₂‐symmetric zirconocene catalysts activated with modified methylaluminoxane (MMAO) had 1,4‐inserted butadiene units ( 1,4‐BD ) and 1,2‐inserted units ( 1,2‐BD ) in the isotactic polypropylene chain. The selectivity of butadiene towards 1,4‐BD incorporation was high up to 95% using rac‐dimethylsilylbis(1‐indenyl)zirconium dichloride (Cat‐A)/MMAO. The molar ratio of propylene to butadiene in the feed regulated the number‐average molecular weight (M_n) and the butadiene contents of the polymer produced. Metathesis degradations of the copolymer with ethylene were conducted with a WCI₆/SnMe₄/propyl acetate catalyst system. The ¹H NMR spectra before and after the degradation indicated that the polymers degraded by ethylene had vinyl groups at both chain ends in high selectivity. The analysis of the chain scission products clarified the chain end structures of the poly(propylene‐ran‐1,3‐butadiene). © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 5731–5740, 2007     

Chemistry of olefin polymerization reactions with chromium‐based catalysts

Detailed GC analysis of oligomers formed in ethylene homopolymerization reactions, ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization reactions, and homo‐oligomerization reactions of 1‐hexene and 1‐octene in the presence of a chromium oxide and an organochromium catalyst is carried out. A combination of these data with the analysis of ¹³C NMR and IR spectra of the respective high molecular weight polymerization products indicates that the standard olefin polymerization mechanism, according to which the starting chain end of each polymer molecule is saturated and the terminal chain end is a C?C bond (in the absence of hydrogen in the polymerization reactions), is also applicable to olefin polymerization reactions with both types of chromium‐based catalysts. The mechanism of active center formation and polymerization is proposed for the reactions. Two additional features of the polymerization reactions, co‐trimerization of olefins over chromium oxide catalysts and formation of methyl branches in polyethylene chains in the presence of organochromium catalysts, also find confirmation in the GC analysis. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 5330–5347, 2008