Modified polypropylenes by copolymerization with nonconjugated dienes and additional chemical reactions

Modified polypropylenes were synthesized by copolymerization of propene with several nonconjugated dienes using a constrained geometry catalyst in combination with methylaluminoxane. The incorporation of the dienes yields in polymer structures containing both cyclic units and linear branches, respectively. By variation of the polymerization conditions the cyclization tendency can be reduced. The resulting propene/diene copolymers are equipped with higher amounts of pendant double bonds which can be used for following chemical reactions. As an example, the epoxidation of the free double bonds was carried out using several epoxidation reagents. In a further modification step, the ring opening of the epoxy groups is presented demonstrating the simplicity of the chemical modification possibilities of such polypropylene materials.