Experimental proof of the existence of mass‐transfer resistance during early stages of ethylene polymerization with silica supported metallocene/MAO catalysts

The size of a silica supported metallocene/MAO (methylaluminoxane) catalyst plays an important role in determining its productivity during ethylene polymerization. From a chemical engineering point of view, this size dependency of catalytic activity of supported metallocenes is mathematically connected with the different levels of mass‐transfer resistance in big and small catalyst particles but no experimental evidence has been provided to date. The results of this systematic experimental study clearly demonstrate that the intraparticle monomer diffusion resistance is high in bigger catalyst particles during initial instants of ethylene polymerization and diminishes with the polymer particle growth. Two different silica supported metallocene/MAO catalysts provided the same results while highlighting the fact that catalyst chemistry should be carefully considered while studying complex chemical engineering problems. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 4476–4490, 2017     

Ethylene polymerization with methylaluminoxane/(nBuCp)2ZrCl2 catalyst supported on silica and silica‐alumina at different AlMAO/Zr molar ratios

Methylaluminoxane (MAO)/(nBuCp)₂ZrCl₂ metallocene catalytic system was supported on silica and silica‐alumina. The Zr loading was varied between 0.2–0.4 wt %, and the MAO amount was calculated to get (Al_MAO/Zr) molar ratios between 100 and 200, suitable for the industrial ethylene polymerization of supported metallocene catalysts. Catalytic activity was statistically analyzed through the response surface method. Within the ranges studied, it was found that Zr loading had a negative effect on polymerization activity, which increases with the (Al_MAO/Zr) molar ratio. Catalysts supported on silica‐alumina are more active than those supported on silica, needing less MAO to reach similar productivity, which constitutes an important advantage from an economical and environmental point of view. Supported catalysts were characterized by ICP‐AES, SEM‐energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrometer, and UV‐Vis spectroscopy, whereas polyethylenes were characterized by GPC and DSC. Molecular weight and crystallinity are not influenced by Zr loading or (Al_MAO/Zr) ratio, in the range studied. In general, silica‐supported MAO/(nBuCp)₂ZrCl₂ catalysts give polyethylenes with higher molecular weight and polydispersity but lower crystallinity. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Ethylene polymerization over (nBuCp)2ZrCl2/MAO catalytic system supported on aluminosilicate SBA‐15 mesostructured materials

Heterogeneous metallocene catalysts were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation of AlSBA‐15 (Si/Al = 4.8, 15, 30, 60, and ∞) mesostructured materials with (nBuCp)₂ZrCl₂/MAO. For comparative purposes commercial silica and silica–alumina (Si/Al = 4.8) supports were also impregnated with the MAO/metallocene catalytic system. A combination of X‐ray powder diffraction, nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms at 77 K, transmission electron microscopy, ICP‐atomic emission spectroscopy, and UV–vis spectroscopic data, were used to characterize the supports and the heterogeneous catalysts. Ethylene polymerizations were carried out in a schlenk tube at 70 °C and 1.2 bar of ethylene pressure. The polyethylene obtained was characterized by GPC, DSC, and SEM. Catalysts prepared with mesostructured SBA‐15 supports exhibited better catalytic performance than those supported on amorphous silica and silica–alumina. In general, higher ethylene polymerization activity was achieved if (nBuCp)₂ ZrCl₂/MAO catalytic system was heterogenized using supports with lower pore size in the range of the mesopores and lower Si/Al ratio. All catalysts produced high‐density polyethylene, with high crystallinity values and fibrous morphology when SBA‐15 mesostructured materials were used as supports. POLYM. ENG SCI., 2008. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Video Microscopy for Fast Screening of Polymerization Catalysts

Video microscopy has been used as an effective tool for fast screening of six different metallocene/MAO supported catalyst samples. The different techniques employed for supporting the metallocene on silica gels can have an influence on the overall catalyst activity and on the activity of single catalyst particles. The kinetics of gas‐phase polymerization of ethylene with supported metallocene/MAO catalysts can be modeled by using a simple reaction scheme and neglecting mass and heat transport effects.     

Supported zirconocene catalyst for preventing reactor fouling in ethylene polymerization

The commercial interest of metallocene complexes for olefin polymerization has led to additional efforts to prepare suitable metallocene complexes efficiently and economically. Ethylene polymerization was carried out with a series of heterogeneous catalysts which were prepared in various Zr/silica ratios by immobilization of Ind₂ZrCl₂ preactivated with methylaluminoxane (MAO) on silica. This method to form the catalyst system resulted in a polymerization catalyst with reduced fouling tendencies and improved reactor operability. Polymerization of ethylene was conducted in Buchi reactors in a slurry phase under mild pressure. Some of the physical properties of the obtained polymers were also determined. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Propylene polymerization using combined syndio‐ and isospecific metallocene catalysts supported on silica/MAO

Syndiotactic and isotactic polypropylene were produced using the metallocene compounds Ph₂C(Flu)(Cp)ZrCl₂ and SiMe₂(2‐Me,4‐Ph‐Ind)₂ZrCl₂ in homogeneous system and supported on silica/MAO. These catalysts were evaluated either isolated or as a binary system. In the latter case, the iso‐ and syndiospecific metallocene complexes were immobilized together during the preparation of the supported catalyst. In a further experimental set, the syndio‐ and isospecific isolated heterogeneous catalysts were mixed at the moment of propylene polymerization. The polypropylenes obtained were evaluated using differential scanning calorimetry. The catalytic activities were also investigated. At all the studied polymerization temperatures, the results showed that the binary catalyst produced polypropylenes with lower melting temperatures in comparison with those obtained when the mixture of isolated supported syndio‐ and isospecific catalysts was employed. Moreover, the activation energies for the polymerization of all catalysts systems were calculated, resulting in a lower value for the binary system when compared to that employing the catalyst mixture and to both the isolated supported metallocene catalysts. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 628–637, 2006     

Polymerization of ethylene: Some aspects of metallocene catalyst stabilization under homogeneous and heterogeneous reaction conditions

The development of metallocene‐based catalysts is an important advance on the study of polyolefinic materials. However, due to the rather different conditions that are established in actual applications, only around 3% of these polymers are obtained from metallocene technology. In view of this, novel strategies must be developed to produce metallocene‐based catalysts that are more thermally stable, which is a fundamental requirement to establish metallocene technologies. Homogeneous and heterogeneous polymerizations of ethylene were compared, using the Ph₂C(Cp)(Flu)ZrCl₂/MAO system. Homogeneous polymerizations were more active than the corresponding supported reactions. At low ethylene pressure, the addition of 1‐hexene increases the activity under homogeneous conditions. Nevertheless, this is not observed on the respective supported systems. At higher pressure conditions, all polymerizations attained higher yields. However, when the reaction temperature increases the activity significantly decreases under homogeneous conditions. Furthermore, when the polymerization was performed under heterogeneous conditions the deactivation was lower. The homogeneous and supported catalytic systems show different characteristics and, in all attempted reactions, immobilization of the molecular catalyst reduces the activity. However, the deactivation ratio was lower when the polymerization was performed under heterogeneous conditions. This means that immobilization of Ph₂C(Cp)(Flu)ZrCl₂ on silica can improve the thermal stability of the catalytic species. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Development of novel chromium oxide/metallocene hybrid catalysts for bimodal polyethylene

The investigation of a multicomponent catalyst in polyolefin field came up as an alternative for synthesizing bimodal polymers in only one step process under constant reaction conditions.In the present work, new bifunctional catalysts were prepared by combining chromium and metallocene species on the same solid and tested in ethylene polymerization in order to evaluate the possibility of producing bimodal polyethylene. The catalytic system methylaluminoxane (MAO)/(nBuCp)₂ZrCl₂ was immobilized on activated chromium catalysts supported onto several inorganic carriers (silica, silica-alumina, aluminophosphate and mesostructured SBA-15-type materials). The reaction results showed a clear influence of the physicochemical properties of the support on the relative contribution of metallocene and chromium centers as well as on polymers molecular weight distribution. A bimodal polyethylene was obtained by supporting the MAO/metallocene system on a mesostructured chromium catalyst prepared by direct synthesis.     

(nBuCp)2ZrCl2‐catalyzed ethylene‐4M1P copolymerization: Copolymer backbone structure,melt behavior,and crystallization

The judicious design of methylaluminoxane (MAO) anions expands the scope for developing industrial metallocene catalysts. Therefore, the effects of MAO anion design on the backbone structure, melt behavior, and crystallization of ethylene?4‐methyl‐1‐pentene (E?4M1P) copolymer were investigated. Ethylene was homopolymerized, as well as copolymerized with 4M1P, using (1) MAO anion A (unsupported [MAOCl₂]^?) premixed with dehydroxylated silica, (ⁿBuCp)₂ZrCl₂, and Me₂SiCl₂; and (2) MAO anion B (Si?O?Me₂Si?[MAOCl₂]^?) supported with (ⁿBuCp)₂ZrCl₂ on Me₂SiCl₂‐functionalized silica. Unsupported Me₂SiCl₂, opposite to the supported analogue, acted as a co‐chain transfer agent with 4M1P. The modeling of polyethylene melting and crystallization kinetics, including critical crystallite stability, produced insightful results. This study especially illustrates how branched polyethylene can be prepared from ethylene alone using particularly one metallocene‐MAO ion pair, and how a compound, that functionalizes silica as well as terminates the chain, can synthesize ethylene?α‐olefin copolymers with novel structures. Hence, it unfolds prospective future research niches in polyethyne systhesis. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 1688–1706, 2016     

Influence of supported vanadium catalyst on ethylene polymerization reactions

BACKGROUND: In the research area of homogeneous Ziegler–Natta olefin polymerization, classic vanadium catalyst systems have shown a number of favourable performances. These catalysts are useful for (i) the preparation of high molecular weight polymers with narrow molecular weight distributions, (ii) the preparation of ethylene/R‐olefin copolymers with high R‐olefin incorporation and (iii) the preparation of syndiotactic polypropylenes. In view of the above merits of vanadium‐based catalysts for polymerization reactions, the development of well‐defined single‐site vanadium catalysts for polymerization reactions is presently an extremely important industrial goal. The main aim of this work was the synthesis and characterization of a heterogeneous low‐coordinate non‐metallocene (phenyl)imido vanadium catalyst, V(NAr)Cl₃, and its utility for ethylene polymerization. RESULTS: Imido vanadium complex V(NAr)Cl₃ was synthesized and immobilized onto a series of inorganic supports: SiO₂, methylaluminoxane (MAO)‐modified SiO₂ (4.5 and 23 wt% Al/SiO₂), SiO₂? Al₂O₃, MgCl₂, MCM‐41 and MgO. Metal contents on the supported catalysts determined by X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy remained between 0.050 and 0.100 mmol V g^?1 support. Thermal stability of the catalysts was determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Characterization of polyethylene was done by gel permeation chromatography and DSC. All catalyst systems were found to be active in ethylene polymerization in the presence of MAO or triisobutylaluminium/MAO mixture (Al/V = 1000). Catalyst activity was found to depend on the support nature, being between 7.5 and 80.0 kg PE (mol V)^?1 h^?1. Finally, all catalyst systems were found to be reusable for up to three cycles. CONCLUSION: Best results were observed in the case of silica as support. Acid or basic supports afforded less active systems. In situ immobilization led to higher catalyst activity. The resulting polyethylenes in all experiments had ultrahigh molecular weight. Finally, this work explains the synthesis and characterization of reusable supported novel vanadium catalysts, which are useful in the synthesis of very high molecular weight ethylene polymers. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Octadecyl-modified silica supports for metallocene catalyst applied in ethylene polymerization

Chemical modification of silica-based supports is an alternative route for modulating the active sites of metallocene catalysts, presenting the potential to obtain polyethylenes with improved properties. Therefore, this work investigates the effect of octadecylsilane content in silica support on the behavior of resulting supported metallocene catalysts on ethylene polymerization. For this propose, a series of octadecyl-modified silicas whit different amounts of octadecyl (ODS) groups were synthesized by a modified Stöber sol–gel method and then applied as supports for a metallocene catalyst. The supported metallocene catalysts were evaluated in ethylene polymerization and ethylene/1-hexene copolymerization reactions. Besides, studies of the growth kinetics of polyethylene particles in a gas phase reactor were performed using videomicroscopy. The octadecylsilane content in the supports was in the range of 0.2 to 1.4 mmol g⁻¹. DRIFTS and ¹³C CP/MAS NMR results showed a predominance of an all-trans octadecyl chain conformation. SEM images showed spherical particle morphology for silicas having octadecylsilane content up to 0.6 mmol g⁻¹. The supported catalysts presented activity in ethylene polymerization in the range of 1100–1900 kg PE molZr⁻¹ h⁻¹ bar⁻¹. The surface polarity of the catalyst influenced the molar mass of the resulting polyethylene. The increase of the ODS content on the silica surface led to a supported catalyst with slower kinetic behavior in the gas phase, which might be attributed to the diffusive effects of the octadecyl layer on the catalyst surface.     

The influence of the preparing conditions of SiO2 supported Cp2ZrCl2 catalyst on ethylene polymerization

In this work, ethylene was polymerized by using Cp₂ZrCl₂ supported on silica pretreated with methylaluminoxane (MAO) as the catalyst system. The influence of the conditions for the preparation of the heterogeneous catalyst, such as temperature, washing method of the catalytic solid, MAO and metallocene concentration in the support treatment, time of MAO, and metallocene immobilization on the support, type of alkylaluminum used in the support pretreatment, and calcination temperature of the support were investigated. Aluminum and zirconium content fixed on the silica surface were determined by inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy. Polymer characteristics were determined by gel permeation chromatography and differential scanning calorimetry. According to the results, the activity of some supported catalysts were far higher than with the homogeneous system. Moreover, polyethylene with very high molecular weights were also obtained and with molecular weight distribution larger than those produced with the homogeneous precursor. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 2054–2061, 2002     

Polymerization of olefins and polar monomers catalyzed by bis(imino)Ni(II)/dibutylmagnesium/alkylaluminium halide systems

[Bis(N,N′‐dimesitylimino)acenaphthene]dibromonickel ( 1 ) when activated with diethylaluminium chloride (DEAC) is a very active catalyst for ethylene homopolymerization. The activity (A_E) of 1 /100 DEAC is twenty times greater than that of 1 /100 MAO and of the same order of magnitude as 1 /2000 MAO. In the case of homopolymerization of propylene the highest activity (A_P) was obtained at a ratio of 25/15 for Al_DEAC/Ni. Trialkylaluminium compounds were also found to act as cocatalysts for 1 . The PE synthesized with four different cocatalysts was found by ¹³C NMR to have dissimilar branching distributions. 1 /DEAC shows no activity for the polymerization of proximately substituted polar monomers. The introduction of dibutylmagnesium, (DBM) activates the 1 /DEAC system to copolymerize ethylene and a number of proximately substituted polar monomers. Compared with the 1 /MAO/monomer.AlR₃ catalyst system the former is three times more active for copolymerization of 5‐hexene‐1‐ol or 10‐undecen‐1‐oic acid with ethylene. The activity of copolymerization is 1 /24, 1 /5 and 1 /2 as active as homopolymerization, respectively, in the case of methyl vinyl ketone, vinyl acetate and ?‐caprolactam. In the case of tetrahydrofuran/ethylene, the 1 /MAO catalyst produced copolymers using AlR₃ pretreated THF whereas the 1 /DEAC/DBM catalyst produces homopolyethylene only. No polymerization occurred with an acrylonitrile/ethylene mixture in the presence of 1 /DBM/DEAC catalyst. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

负载型茂金属催化剂用于乙烯淤浆聚合的研究

在烯烃催化聚合领域,茂金属催化剂显示出比传统Ziegler-Natta催化剂更高的活性。以苯甲酸催化三甲基铝（TMA）受控水解生成甲基铝氧烷（MAO）,经热解过程后合成了一种不溶形式的固体聚甲基铝氧烷（sMAO）。以合成的sMAO为载体负载茂金属催化剂,并将该催化剂应用于乙烯淤浆聚合反应中,系统探究了聚合条件对催化行为的影响,同时对聚乙烯产品mPE的粒度、堆密度、分子量及分布和熔体流动速率等基本理化性能进行了分析表征。实验结果表明,制备的催化剂颗粒形态较好,粒子分布均匀,在5 L釜中催化淤浆反应,乙烯/1-己烯共聚活性最高可达15 302.6 g·g^-1,并得到了相对分子质量分布均匀的中、高密度聚乙烯产品。     

Silica‐supported (nBuCp)2ZrCl2: effect of catalyst active center distribution on ethylene–1‐hexene copolymerization

Metallocenes are a modern innovation in polyolefin catalysis research. Therefore, two supported metallocene catalysts—silica/MAO/(ⁿBuCp)₂ZrCl₂ (Catalyst 1) and silica/ⁿBuSnCl₃/MAO/(ⁿBuCp)₂ZrCl₂ (Catalyst 2), where MAO is methylaluminoxane—were synthesized, and subsequently used to prepare, without separate feeding of MAO, ethylene–1‐hexene Copolymer 1 and Copolymer 2, respectively. Fouling‐free copolymerization, catalyst kinetic stability and production of free‐flowing polymer particles (replicating the catalyst particle size distribution) confirmed the occurrence of heterogeneous catalysis. The catalyst active center distribution was modeled by deconvoluting the measured molecular weight distribution and copolymer composition distribution. Five different active center types were predicted for each catalyst, which was corroborated by successive self‐nucleation and annealing experiments, as well as by an extended X‐ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy report published in the literature. Hence, metallocenes impregnated particularly on an MAO‐pretreated support may be rightly envisioned to comprise an ensemble of isolated single sites that have varying coordination environments. This study shows how the active center distribution and the design of supported MAO anions affect copolymerization activity, polymerization mechanism and the resulting polymer microstructures. Catalyst 2 showed less copolymerization activity than Catalyst 1. Strong chain transfer and positive co‐monomer effect—both by 1‐hexene—were common. Each copolymer demonstrated vinyl, vinylidene and trans‐vinylene end groups, and compositional heterogeneity. All these findings were explained, as appropriate, considering the modeled active center distribution, MAO cage structure repeat units, proposed catalyst surface chemistry, segregation effects and the literature that concerns and supports this study. While doing so, new insights were obtained. Additionally, future research, along the direction of the present work, is recommended. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry     

In situ copolymerization of ethylene to produce linear low‐density polyethylene by Ti(OBu)4/AlEt3‐MAO/SiO2/Et(Ind)2ZrCl2

Linear low‐density polyethylene (LLDPE) is produced in a reactor from single ethylene feed by combining Ti(OBu)₄/AlEt₃, capable of forming α‐olefins (predominantly 1‐butene), with SiO₂‐supported Et(Ind)₂ZrCl₂ (denoted MAO/SiO₂/Et(Ind)₂ZrCl₂), which is able to copolymerize ethylene and 1‐butene in situ with little interference in the dual‐functional catalytic system. The two catalysts in the dual‐functional catalytic system match well because of the employment of triethylaluminum (AlEt₃) as the single cocatalyst to both Ti(OBu)₄ and MAO/SiO₂/Et(Ind)₂ZrCl₂, exhibiting high polymerization activity and improved properties of the obtained polyethylene. There is a noticeable increment in catalytic activity when the amount of Ti(OBu)₄ in the reactor increases and 1‐butene can be incorporated by about 6.51 mol % in the backbone of polyethylene chains at the highest Ti(OBu)₄ concentration in the feed. The molecular weights (M_w), melting points, and crystallinity of the LLDPE descend as the amount of Ti(OBu)₄ decreases, which is attributed mainly to chain termination and high branching degree, while the molecular weight distribution remains within a narrow range as in the case of metallocene catalysts. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 94: 2451–2455, 2004     

1,2‐Polymerization of 1,3‐butadiene with Cr(acac)3‐alkylaluminum catalysts

The polymerization of butadiene (Bd) with chromium(III) acetylacetonato [Cr(acac)₃]‐trialkylaluminum (AlR₃) or methylaluminoxane (MAO) catalysts was investigated for the synthesis of 1,2‐poly(Bd). The polymerization of Bd was found to proceed with Cr(acac)₃‐AlR₃ (R‐Me, Et, i‐Bu) catalysts to give poly(Bd) with a high 1,2‐vinyl content, but highly isotactic 1,2‐poly(Bd) was not synthesized. The Cr(acac)₃‐MAO catalyst gave a polymer consisting of low 1,2 units. The effects of the Al/Cr mole ratios on the polymerization of Bd with the Cr(acac)₃‐AlR₃ catalysts were observed. With an increase of Al/Cr mole ratios, the isotactic (mm) content of the polymer increased but the 1,2‐vinyl contents decreased. The effects of the aging time and temperatures of the catalysts on the polymerization of Bd with the Cr(acac)₃‐AlR₃ catalysts were also observed, and the lower polymerization temperature and the prolonged aging time were favored to produce the 1,2‐vinyl structure. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 78: 1621–1627, 2000     

Supported hybrid catalysts based on zirconocene and tris(pyrazolyl)borate titanium derivatives

A series of hybrid supported catalysts were prepared by combining (iBuCp)₂ZrCl₂ and {Tp^Ms*}TiCl₃ complex (Tp^Ms* = HB(3‐mesityl‐pyrazolyl)₂(5‐mesityl‐pyrazolyl)^?) sequentially grafted onto MAO (methylaluminoxane)‐modified silica according to a Plackett Burmann 2³ design. Supported catalysts were prepared taking into account the immobilization order, silica pretreatment temperature, and grafting temperature. Grafted metal content was comparatively determined by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), X‐ray photoelectronic spectroscopy (XPS), and inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectroscopy (ICP–OES). The resulting catalysts were evaluated in terms of catalyst activity and polymer properties. According to RBS measurements, grafted metal content remained comprised between 0.1 and 0.5 wt % Zr/SiO₂ and 0.1 and 0.3 wt % Ti/SiO₂ depending on the immobilization order and on silica pretreatment temperature. All the systems were shown to be active in ethylene polymerization having external MAO as cocatalyst. Catalyst activity seemed to be governed by the zirconocene species, influenced slightly by Ti ones. Resulting polymers were characterized by DSC and GPC. The polyethylenes mostly presented higher molecular weight than those produced by homogeneous catalysts or by zirconocene grafted on bare or on MAO‐modified silica. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2006     

Effects of aluminum alkyls on ethylene/1‐hexene polymerization with supported metallocene/MAO catalysts in the gas phase

The effects of aluminum alkyls on the gas‐phase ethylene homopolymerization and ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization over polymer‐supported metallocene/methylaluminoxane [(n‐BuCp)₂ZrCl₂/MAO] catalysts were investigated. Results with triisobutyl aluminum (TIBA), triethyl aluminum (TEA), and tri‐n‐octyl aluminum (TNOA) showed that both the type and the amount of aluminum alkyl influenced the polymerization activity profiles and to a lesser extent the polymer molar masses. The response to aluminum alkyls depended on the morphology and the Al : Zr ratio of the catalyst. Addition of TIBA and TEA to supported catalysts with Al : Zr >200 reduced the initial activity but at times resulted in higher average activities due to broadening of the kinetic profiles, i.e., alkyls can be used to control the shape of the activity profiles. A catalyst with Al : Zr = 110 exhibited relatively low activity when the amount of TIBA added was <0.4 mmol, but the activity increased fivefold by increasing the TIBA amount to 0.6 mmol. The effectiveness of the aluminum alkyls in inhibiting the initial polymerization activity is in the following order: TEA > TIBA >> TNOA. A 2‐L semibatch reactor, typically run at 80°C and 1.4 MPa ethylene pressure for 1 to 5 h was used for the gas‐phase polymerization. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 3549–3560, 2004     

Preparation of ethylene/1‐octene copolymers from ethylene stock with tandem catalytic system

Tandem catalysis offers a novel synthetic route to the production of linear low‐density polyethylene. This article reports the use of homogeneous tandem catalytic systems for the synthesis of ethylene/1‐octene copolymers from ethylene stock as the sole monomer. The reported catalytic systems involving a highly selective, bis(diphenylphosphino)cyclohexylamine/Cr(acac)₃/methylaluminoxane (MAO) catalytic systems for the synthesis of 1‐hexene and 1‐octene, and a copolymerization metallocene catalyst, rac‐Et(Ind)₂ZrCl₂/MAO for the synthesis of ethylene/1‐octene copolymer. Analysis by means of DSC, GPC, and ¹³C‐NMR suggests that copolymers of 1‐hexene and ethylene and copolymers of 1‐octene and ethylene are produced with significant selectivity towards 1‐hexene and 1‐octene as comonomers incorporated into the polymer backbone respectively. We have demonstrated that, by the simple manipulation of the catalyst molar ratio and polymerization conditions, a series of branched polyethylenes with melting temperatures of 101.1–134.1°C and density of 0.922–0.950 g cm^?3 can be efficiently produced. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008