EP2021349A2 - Activators for the homo-or co-polymerisation of alpha-olefins with homogeneous metallocene catalyst systems - Google Patents
Activators for the homo-or co-polymerisation of alpha-olefins with homogeneous metallocene catalyst systemsInfo
- Publication number
- EP2021349A2 EP2021349A2 EP07747941A EP07747941A EP2021349A2 EP 2021349 A2 EP2021349 A2 EP 2021349A2 EP 07747941 A EP07747941 A EP 07747941A EP 07747941 A EP07747941 A EP 07747941A EP 2021349 A2 EP2021349 A2 EP 2021349A2
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- homogeneous catalyst
- catalyst system
- active homogeneous
- indenyl
- active
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
- 239000012968 metallocene catalyst Substances 0.000 title claims abstract description 13
- 239000004711 α-olefin Substances 0.000 title claims abstract description 13
- 239000012190 activator Substances 0.000 title description 8
- VGGSQFUCUMXWEO-UHFFFAOYSA-N Ethene Chemical compound C=C VGGSQFUCUMXWEO-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims abstract description 26
- 239000005977 Ethylene Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 26
- 230000003213 activating effect Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 12
- 239000003795 chemical substances by application Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 9
- 239000003054 catalyst Substances 0.000 claims description 17
- 125000003454 indenyl group Chemical group C1(C=CC2=CC=CC=C12)* 0.000 claims description 17
- 125000004432 carbon atom Chemical group C* 0.000 claims description 13
- 239000002815 homogeneous catalyst Substances 0.000 claims description 13
- 239000000178 monomer Substances 0.000 claims description 12
- YBYIRNPNPLQARY-UHFFFAOYSA-N 1H-indene Natural products C1=CC=C2CC=CC2=C1 YBYIRNPNPLQARY-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 11
- 150000001336 alkenes Chemical class 0.000 claims description 10
- UHOVQNZJYSORNB-UHFFFAOYSA-N monobenzene Natural products C1=CC=CC=C1 UHOVQNZJYSORNB-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 10
- 125000001424 substituent group Chemical group 0.000 claims description 10
- 125000000217 alkyl group Chemical group 0.000 claims description 8
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 claims description 8
- JRZJOMJEPLMPRA-UHFFFAOYSA-N olefin Natural products CCCCCCCC=C JRZJOMJEPLMPRA-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 8
- 229910052782 aluminium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 7
- 229920001577 copolymer Polymers 0.000 claims description 7
- 125000001997 phenyl group Chemical group [H]C1=C([H])C([H])=C(*)C([H])=C1[H] 0.000 claims description 7
- MCULRUJILOGHCJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N triisobutylaluminium Chemical compound CC(C)C[Al](CC(C)C)CC(C)C MCULRUJILOGHCJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 7
- 125000005842 heteroatom Chemical group 0.000 claims description 6
- LIKMAJRDDDTEIG-UHFFFAOYSA-N 1-hexene Chemical compound CCCCC=C LIKMAJRDDDTEIG-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 5
- 239000004411 aluminium Substances 0.000 claims description 5
- 125000002496 methyl group Chemical group [H]C([H])([H])* 0.000 claims description 5
- -1 ethylene, propylene Chemical group 0.000 claims description 4
- QCWXUUIWCKQGHC-UHFFFAOYSA-N Zirconium Chemical group [Zr] QCWXUUIWCKQGHC-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- 125000003118 aryl group Chemical group 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000002904 solvent Substances 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910052726 zirconium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- 125000003545 alkoxy group Chemical group 0.000 claims description 2
- 125000001183 hydrocarbyl group Chemical group 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910052751 metal Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 claims description 2
- 230000000737 periodic effect Effects 0.000 claims description 2
- 241001165766 Tetraoninae Species 0.000 claims 1
- XAGFODPZIPBFFR-UHFFFAOYSA-N aluminium Chemical compound [Al] XAGFODPZIPBFFR-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims 1
- QQONPFPTGQHPMA-UHFFFAOYSA-N propylene Natural products CC=C QQONPFPTGQHPMA-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 22
- 125000004805 propylene group Chemical group [H]C([H])([H])C([H])([*:1])C([H])([H])[*:2] 0.000 description 22
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 7
- 239000003446 ligand Substances 0.000 description 7
- 229920000642 polymer Polymers 0.000 description 7
- 238000002360 preparation method Methods 0.000 description 5
- LFQSCWFLJHTTHZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Ethanol Chemical compound CCO LFQSCWFLJHTTHZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 4
- XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicon Chemical group [Si] XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 3
- YXFVVABEGXRONW-UHFFFAOYSA-N Toluene Chemical compound CC1=CC=CC=C1 YXFVVABEGXRONW-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 3
- 230000004913 activation Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000003197 catalytic effect Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000007334 copolymerization reaction Methods 0.000 description 3
- 229920000098 polyolefin Polymers 0.000 description 3
- IJGRMHOSHXDMSA-UHFFFAOYSA-N Atomic nitrogen Chemical compound N#N IJGRMHOSHXDMSA-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 238000009826 distribution Methods 0.000 description 2
- GNPVGFCGXDBREM-UHFFFAOYSA-N germanium atom Chemical group [Ge] GNPVGFCGXDBREM-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 229910052710 silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 125000005373 siloxane group Chemical group [SiH2](O*)* 0.000 description 2
- OKTJSMMVPCPJKN-UHFFFAOYSA-N Carbon Chemical compound [C] OKTJSMMVPCPJKN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 239000004743 Polypropylene Substances 0.000 description 1
- RTAQQCXQSZGOHL-UHFFFAOYSA-N Titanium Chemical group [Ti] RTAQQCXQSZGOHL-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 239000011954 Ziegler–Natta catalyst Substances 0.000 description 1
- 125000001118 alkylidene group Chemical group 0.000 description 1
- 125000003277 amino group Chemical group 0.000 description 1
- 230000015572 biosynthetic process Effects 0.000 description 1
- 229910052799 carbon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 238000006555 catalytic reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 125000002091 cationic group Chemical group 0.000 description 1
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000000052 comparative effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000007796 conventional method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229920001971 elastomer Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 239000000806 elastomer Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000002474 experimental method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000007789 gas Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052732 germanium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 229910052735 hafnium Chemical group 0.000 description 1
- VBJZVLUMGGDVMO-UHFFFAOYSA-N hafnium atom Chemical group [Hf] VBJZVLUMGGDVMO-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 238000007172 homogeneous catalysis Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000000977 initiatory effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000002347 injection Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000007924 injection Substances 0.000 description 1
- 125000001449 isopropyl group Chemical group [H]C([H])([H])C([H])(*)C([H])([H])[H] 0.000 description 1
- 239000007791 liquid phase Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000203 mixture Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052757 nitrogen Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000002245 particle Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000012071 phase Substances 0.000 description 1
- XYFCBTPGUUZFHI-UHFFFAOYSA-N phosphine group Chemical group P XYFCBTPGUUZFHI-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 239000002685 polymerization catalyst Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229920001155 polypropylene Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 230000009257 reactivity Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000010703 silicon Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000000243 solution Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910001220 stainless steel Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000010935 stainless steel Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000000707 stereoselective effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000000725 suspension Substances 0.000 description 1
- 125000000999 tert-butyl group Chemical group [H]C([H])([H])C(*)(C([H])([H])[H])C([H])([H])[H] 0.000 description 1
- 239000010936 titanium Chemical group 0.000 description 1
- 229910052719 titanium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N water Substances O XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
- C08F—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING CARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS
- C08F10/00—Homopolymers and copolymers of unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons having only one carbon-to-carbon double bond
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
- C08F—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING CARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS
- C08F110/00—Homopolymers of unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons having only one carbon-to-carbon double bond
- C08F110/04—Monomers containing three or four carbon atoms
- C08F110/06—Propene
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
- C08F—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING CARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS
- C08F210/00—Copolymers of unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons having only one carbon-to-carbon double bond
- C08F210/04—Monomers containing three or four carbon atoms
- C08F210/06—Propene
Definitions
- the present invention relates to the field activators in the homogeneous homo- and co-polymerisation of ethylene and propylene with metallocene catalyst system. These activators are very active when compared to other substituted zirconocenes but do not include aluminoxane or perfluorophenylborate.
- Homogeneous catalyst systems are however not adapted to suspension or gas phase polymerisation. These processes nevertheless offer many advantages such as for example, the preparation of a polymer in granular form having a defined particles size distribution.
- activating agents in metallocene catalysis are aluminoxane and perfluorophenylborates such as for example CPh 3 B(CeFs) 4 or Me 2 NHPhB(C 6 F 5 )4. These activators are costly.
- Metallocene catalytic systems are "single-site” as opposed to “multi-site” heterogeneous Ziegler-Natta (ZN) catalyst systems. They produce fractionally uniform polyolefins with low polydispersity index. They also allow, contrary to Ziegler-Natta catalyst systems, the preparation of a wide range of polyolefins with properties varying from thermoplasts to elastomers. They are further characterised by very little differences in reactivity ratios of comonomers thereby allowing the possibility of varying over a wide range both the type and content of comonomer in generated copolymers. See for example J.A.
- Aluminum alkyls were also used for activating dimethylated bisindenylzirconocenes in copolymerization of ethylene with propylene and with hexene-1 , and in copolymerization of propylene with hexene-1 as described in Russian patent application n° 2250237.
- the activity of these homogeneous catalytic systems was however very moderate.
- Zirconocenes such as rac-(2-R,4Phlnd) 2 ZrX2 wherein R is Me, Et, or i-Pr and wherein X is Cl or Me or such as rac-(2-Me-Benz[e]lnd)2ZrCl 2 are known to be highly active and stereoselective for the preparation of isotactic polypropylene. They are also very active for olefin copolymerisation. They are fully described in Resconi et al. (in L. Resconi et al., Chem. Rev., 2000, 100, 1253]. These metallocene components are however activated with the usual aluminoxane or perfluorophenylborate activators and that document does not at all mention the possibility of activating them with aluminiumalkyls.
- the present invention provides a very active homogeneous metallocene catalyst system that is prepared without aluminoxane and perfluorophenylborate activators and is very efficient for copolymerising ethylene and alpha-olefins or propylene and ethylene or higher alpha-olefins.
- the present invention provides an active homogeneous metallocene catalyst system comprising: - an activating agent of general formula
- each R" is the same or different and is selected from alkoxy or alkyl groups having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms;
- - lnd is an indenyl or hydogenated indenyl
- R a and R b are each independently selected from hydrocarbyl having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms;
- - R* is an optional structural bridge between the two indenyls or between an indenyl and the heteroatom, imparting stereorigidity to the complex;
- - s is 0 if the bridge is absent and 1 if the bridge is present
- - M is a metal Group 4 of the Periodic Table; - each Q is independently selected from alkyl having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms or unsubstituted or substituted with benzene;
- - Z is an heteroatom selected from N, O or P;
- R c is a bulky substituent on the heteroatom that has at least 3 carbon atoms.
- substituent R a is at 2-position of indenyl ligand.
- substituent R b is at 4-position of indenyl ligand or is substituted or unsubstituted benzene[e], conjugated with indenyl ligand at 4,5-positions.
- R a and R b are respectively at positions 2 and 4 of each indenyl group and they are alkyl having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms or aryl having from 6 to 8 carbon atoms.
- substituents one can cite methyl, t-butyl, unsubstituted or substituted phenyl.
- R* comprises an alkylidene group having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a germanium group (e.g. a dialkyl germanium group), a silicon group (e.g. a dialkyl silicon group), a siloxane group (e.g. a dialkyl siloxane group), an alkyl phosphine group or an amine group.
- the substituent on the bridge comprises a silicon atom or a hydrocarbyl radical having at least one carbon, such as a substituted or unsubstituted ethylenyl radical, for example -CH 2 -CH 2 - (Et).
- R* is Et, Me 2 Si or Ph 2 C.
- M is selected from zirconium, titanium or hafnium. More preferably M is zirconium. Preferably both Q are the same, more preferably they are methyl, unsubstituted or substituted with benzene.
- Z is nitrogen
- the activating agent is an aluminiumalkyl.
- aluminiumalkyl are trialkylaluminium, the most preferred being triisobutylaluminium (TIBAL).
- L is the ligand
- the resulting metallocene complex activated with trialkylaluminum is not a very tight complex and the olefin further helps dissociate the complex with the formation of cationic active species.
- the dialkylation of the metallocene was carried out using a conventional method such as described for example by Girardello et al. (MA Girardello, M.S. Eisen, CL. Stren in J. Am. Chem. Soc. 117, 12114, 1995.) Alkyllithium was added dropwise at a temperature of about - 80 0 C to dichlorinated metallocene and the system was heated slowly to a temperature of at least 20 0 C. Dialkylated metallocene was then separated out.
- Girardello et al. MA Girardello, M.S. Eisen, CL. Stren in J. Am. Chem. Soc. 117, 12114, 1995.
- the metallocene catalyst system of the present invention is very active in homogeneous homo- or co-polymerisation of ethylene with alpha-olefins or of propylene with ethylene or higher alpha-olefins.
- the present invention also provides a method for homogeneous homo- or co- polymerisation of ethylene or alpha-olefins that comprises the steps of: a) adding aluminium alkyl to a solvent in an amount to reach concentration of at least 1.10 "2 mol/L; b) adding the monomer into the solution of step a) until a constant concentration is obtained; c) adding the optional comonomer; d) adding the catalyst component of the present invention; e) maintaining under polymerising conditions; f) retrieving a homo- or co-polymer.
- the amount of activating agent in the catalyst system is selected to give Al/M ratio of from 10 to 10000, preferably from 50 to 500 and more preferably of about 80 to 300.
- the polymerisation temperature can range from -100 up to 200 0 C. Preferably it is of from 20 to 80 0 C and the polymerisation time varies between a few minutes and several hours, preferably from 3 minutes to 2 hours.
- the preferred monomers are ethylene and propylene.
- the comonomers for ethylene are preferably propylene and hexene-1.
- the comonomers for propylene are preferably ethylene and hexene-1.
- the catalyst component was rac-Me 2 Si(2-Me,4-Ph-lnd)2ZrMe2 wherein lnd is indenyl, Me is methyl and Ph is phenyl.
- TIBAL triisobutylaluminium
- the polymer was then washed with ethanol containing 10 wt% of HCI, and afterwards, it was washed three times with a water/ethanol mixture, and dried under vacuum at a temperature of 60 0 C until constant weight was reached.
- the polymerisation conditions and results are summarised in Table I.
- the activity A of the catalyst system is expressed in kg of polymer per mol of Zr per hour per monomer(s) concentration in mol/l.
- the ratio IvWMc represents the ration of monomer and comonomer in the feed.
- the monomer is ethylene and the comonomer is propylene.
- the activity of catalyst system in homopolymerisation is much higher for ethylene than for propylene as observed by comparing run 1 for ethylene with runs 2 to 8 for propylene.
- the catalyst system of the present invention is also very active in the preparation of ethylene/propylene copolymers as can be seen in runs 9 to 12.
- the effective value of activation energy is of about 8.6+0.1 kcal/mol within the range of temperature of from 30 to 70 0 C used in the examples.
- the catalyst system is also active in the preparation of propylene/hexene-1 copolymers as seen in runs 13 and 14. It is however less active than in the copolymerisation of ethylene with propylene.
- mono-2-substituted bisindenyl zirconocenes were used in the homogeneous homopolymerisation of ethylene and in the homogeneous copolymerisation of ethylene and propylene.
- the polymerisation conditions and results are displayed in Table II.
- the metallocene catalyst component used for comparison were rac-Et(2-Melnd) 2 ZrMe 2 (C 1), rac-Me 2 Si(2-Melnd) 2 ZrMe2 (C2) and (2-Phlnd) 2 ZrMe 2 (C3).
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- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
- Medicinal Chemistry (AREA)
- Polymers & Plastics (AREA)
- Organic Chemistry (AREA)
- Transition And Organic Metals Composition Catalysts For Addition Polymerization (AREA)
Abstract
The present invention discloses a class of metallocene catalyst systems suitable for the homogeneous polymerisation of ethylene or alpha olefins that does not require the addition of aluminoxane or perfluorophenylborates as activating agent.
Description
ACTIVATORS FOR THE HOMO-OR CO-POLYMERISATION OF ALPHA-OLEFINS WITH HOMOGENEOUS METALLOCENE
CATALYST SYSTEMS
The present invention relates to the field activators in the homogeneous homo- and co-polymerisation of ethylene and propylene with metallocene catalyst system. These activators are very active when compared to other substituted zirconocenes but do not include aluminoxane or perfluorophenylborate.
The polymerisation of olefins in the presence of metallocene complexes has mostly been described in homogeneous catalysis. In that type of polymerisation, the catalyst, the olefin monomer and the resulting polymer are all present in the same liquid phase, typically a solvent.
Homogeneous catalyst systems are however not adapted to suspension or gas phase polymerisation. These processes nevertheless offer many advantages such as for example, the preparation of a polymer in granular form having a defined particles size distribution.
The most commonly employed activating agents in metallocene catalysis are aluminoxane and perfluorophenylborates such as for example CPh3B(CeFs)4 or Me2NHPhB(C6F5)4. These activators are costly.
Metallocene catalytic systems are "single-site" as opposed to "multi-site" heterogeneous Ziegler-Natta (ZN) catalyst systems. They produce fractionally uniform polyolefins with low polydispersity index. They also allow, contrary to Ziegler-Natta catalyst systems, the preparation of a wide range of polyolefins with properties varying from thermoplasts to elastomers. They are further characterised by very little differences in reactivity ratios of comonomers thereby allowing the possibility of varying over a wide range both the type and content of comonomer in generated copolymers. See for example J.A. Ewen, Metallocene Polymerization Catalysts: Past, Present and Future, in Metallocene Based Polyolefins, Eds. J. Scheirs and W. Kaminsky, Wiley, New- York, 1999.
In another approach, Panin et al. (In A.N. Panin, Z.M. Dzhabieva, P.M. Nedorezova, T.I. Tsvetkova, S.L. Saratovskikh, O.N. Babkina, N. M. Bravaya, in Journal of Polymer science: Part A: Polymer Chemistry, 39, 1915, 2001) have tested cheap aluminum alkyls in the activation of 2-substituted dimethylated zirconocenes. These catalyst systems were only active in homogeneous polymerisation of ethylene or propylene under very specific conditions.
Aluminum alkyls were also used for activating dimethylated bisindenylzirconocenes in copolymerization of ethylene with propylene and with hexene-1 , and in copolymerization of propylene with hexene-1 as described in Russian patent application n° 2250237. The activity of these homogeneous catalytic systems was however very moderate.
Zirconocenes such as rac-(2-R,4Phlnd)2ZrX2 wherein R is Me, Et, or i-Pr and wherein X is Cl or Me or such as rac-(2-Me-Benz[e]lnd)2ZrCl2 are known to be highly active and stereoselective for the preparation of isotactic polypropylene. They are also very active for olefin copolymerisation. They are fully described in Resconi et al. (in L. Resconi et al., Chem. Rev., 2000, 100, 1253]. These metallocene components are however activated with the usual aluminoxane or perfluorophenylborate activators and that document does not at all mention the possibility of activating them with aluminiumalkyls.
There is thus a need to develop new metallocene catalytic systems that do not require aluminoxane or perfluorophenylborates for activation, which show high activity in homogeneous homo- and co-polymerization of olefins, and which allow varying the comonomer content and distribution over a broad range.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide highly active metallocene catalyst systems that do not require aluminoxane or perfluorophenylborates in homogeneous homo- or co-polymerisation of ethylene or alpha-olefins.
It is another aim of the present invention to provide metallocene catalyst systems that are active in the homogeneous homo-or co-polymerisation of ethylene or alpha-olefins.
It is also an aim of the present invention to provide metallocene catalyst system that can produce copolymers having a broad range of comonomer content.
It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a method for activating very efficiently homogeneous metallocene catalyst components without aluminoxane or perfluorophenylborate activators for the production of homo- or co-polymers of ethylene and alpha-olefins or of propylene and ethylene or higher alpha-olefins.
Any one of those aims is fulfilled, at least partially, by the present invention.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a very active homogeneous metallocene catalyst system that is prepared without aluminoxane and perfluorophenylborate activators and is very efficient for copolymerising ethylene and alpha-olefins or propylene and ethylene or higher alpha-olefins.
The present invention provides an active homogeneous metallocene catalyst system comprising: - an activating agent of general formula
AIFT3
wherein each R" is the same or different and is selected from alkoxy or alkyl groups having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms;
- an olefin;
- and a dialkylated metallocene catalyst component of general formula I
R* s (RaRblnd)2 M Q2 (I)
or of formula Il
R*s (RaRblnd) ZRC M Q2 (II) wherein
- lnd is an indenyl or hydogenated indenyl;
- Ra and Rb are each independently selected from hydrocarbyl having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms;
- R*is an optional structural bridge between the two indenyls or between an indenyl and the heteroatom, imparting stereorigidity to the complex;
- s is 0 if the bridge is absent and 1 if the bridge is present
- M is a metal Group 4 of the Periodic Table; - each Q is independently selected from alkyl having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms or unsubstituted or substituted with benzene;
- Z is an heteroatom selected from N, O or P;
- Rc is a bulky substituent on the heteroatom that has at least 3 carbon atoms.
Preferably, substituent Ra is at 2-position of indenyl ligand. Preferably substituent Rb is at 4-position of indenyl ligand or is substituted or unsubstituted benzene[e], conjugated with indenyl ligand at 4,5-positions. Preferably Ra and Rb are respectively at positions 2 and 4 of each indenyl group and they are alkyl having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms or aryl having from 6 to 8 carbon atoms. Among the most preferred substituents, one can cite methyl, t-butyl, unsubstituted or substituted phenyl.
The type of bridge between the ligands in the present catalyst component is not particularly limited. Typically R* comprises an alkylidene group having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a germanium group (e.g. a dialkyl germanium group), a silicon group (e.g. a dialkyl silicon group), a siloxane group (e.g. a dialkyl siloxane group), an alkyl phosphine group or an amine group. Preferably, the substituent on the bridge comprises a silicon atom or a hydrocarbyl radical having at least one carbon, such as a substituted or unsubstituted ethylenyl radical, for example -CH2-CH2- (Et). Most preferably R* is Et, Me2Si or Ph2C.
In a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, M is selected from zirconium, titanium or hafnium. More preferably M is zirconium.
Preferably both Q are the same, more preferably they are methyl, unsubstituted or substituted with benzene.
Preferably, Z is nitrogen.
Preferably, the activating agent is an aluminiumalkyl. Especially suitable aluminiumalkyl are trialkylaluminium, the most preferred being triisobutylaluminium (TIBAL).
Without being bound by a theory, it is speculated that both trialkylaluminium and olefin participate in the initiation process according to the following reaction scheme.
L2 M Q2 + AI FT3 <- L2 M Q2 . Al R"3
olefin / coordination vacancy
L2 M Q2 . Al R"3 4 ► L2 M* X Q QAr R"3
wherein L is the ligand.
As each indenyl, according to the present invention, carries two substituents, the resulting metallocene complex activated with trialkylaluminum is not a very tight complex and the olefin further helps dissociate the complex with the formation of cationic active species.
The dialkylation of the metallocene was carried out using a conventional method such as described for example by Girardello et al. (MA Girardello, M.S. Eisen, CL. Stren in J. Am. Chem. Soc. 117, 12114, 1995.) Alkyllithium was added dropwise at a temperature of about - 80 0C to dichlorinated metallocene and the system was
heated slowly to a temperature of at least 20 0C. Dialkylated metallocene was then separated out.
The metallocene catalyst system of the present invention is very active in homogeneous homo- or co-polymerisation of ethylene with alpha-olefins or of propylene with ethylene or higher alpha-olefins.
The present invention also provides a method for homogeneous homo- or co- polymerisation of ethylene or alpha-olefins that comprises the steps of: a) adding aluminium alkyl to a solvent in an amount to reach concentration of at least 1.10"2 mol/L; b) adding the monomer into the solution of step a) until a constant concentration is obtained; c) adding the optional comonomer; d) adding the catalyst component of the present invention; e) maintaining under polymerising conditions; f) retrieving a homo- or co-polymer.
The amount of activating agent in the catalyst system is selected to give Al/M ratio of from 10 to 10000, preferably from 50 to 500 and more preferably of about 80 to 300.
The polymerisation temperature can range from -100 up to 200 0C. Preferably it is of from 20 to 80 0C and the polymerisation time varies between a few minutes and several hours, preferably from 3 minutes to 2 hours.
The preferred monomers are ethylene and propylene. The comonomers for ethylene are preferably propylene and hexene-1. The comonomers for propylene are preferably ethylene and hexene-1.
The following examples are intended to illustrate the invention but the invention is not restricted to those examples.
Examples 1 to 3
Several polymerisations were carried out with the catalyst systems according to the present invention.
The catalyst component was rac-Me2Si(2-Me,4-Ph-lnd)2ZrMe2 wherein lnd is indenyl, Me is methyl and Ph is phenyl.
Homogeneous homopolymerisation of ethylene and of propylene as well as copolymerisation of ethylene and propylene were carried out using triisobutylaluminium (TIBAL) as activating agent. All homo- and copolymerisation were carried out in a 200 ml stainless steel reactor. The reactor was pumped at 90 0C for one hour. 60 ml of toluene, the desirable amount of TIBAL1 and monomer(s) were introduced into the reactor in series. After equilibrium was reached, the vial containing the catalyst component was broken to start the polymerisation. At the end of the polymerisation process the monomer injection was interrupted and the polymer was collected. The polymer was then washed with ethanol containing 10 wt% of HCI, and afterwards, it was washed three times with a water/ethanol mixture, and dried under vacuum at a temperature of 60 0C until constant weight was reached. The polymerisation conditions and results are summarised in Table I.
TABLE I
* The activity A of the catalyst system is expressed in kg of polymer per mol of Zr per hour per monomer(s) concentration in mol/l.
(a) The ratio IvWMc represents the ration of monomer and comonomer in the feed. For example in run 9, the monomer is ethylene and the comonomer is propylene.
The activity of catalyst system in homopolymerisation is much higher for ethylene than for propylene as observed by comparing run 1 for ethylene with runs 2 to 8 for propylene.
There is a non-linear increase of catalyst activity, related to monomer concentration, with increasing monomer pressure as can be seen by comparing run 3 (propylene pressure = 2), run 6 (propylene pressure = 4), and run 8 (propylene pressure = 6).
Increase of TIBAL concentration leads to increase of activity (compare entries 2,3 and 5,6).
The catalyst system of the present invention is also very active in the preparation of ethylene/propylene copolymers as can be seen in runs 9 to 12. The effective value of activation energy is of about 8.6+0.1 kcal/mol within the range of temperature of from 30 to 70 0C used in the examples.
The catalyst system is also active in the preparation of propylene/hexene-1 copolymers as seen in runs 13 and 14. It is however less active than in the copolymerisation of ethylene with propylene.
Comparative examples 1 to 4
For comparison mono-2-substituted bisindenyl zirconocenes were used in the homogeneous homopolymerisation of ethylene and in the homogeneous copolymerisation of ethylene and propylene. The polymerisation conditions and results are displayed in Table II. The metallocene catalyst component used for comparison were rac-Et(2-Melnd)2ZrMe2 (C 1), rac-Me2Si(2-Melnd)2ZrMe2 (C2) and (2-Phlnd) 2ZrMe2 (C3).
TABLE 11
It can be concluded from these experiments that the catalyst systems based on di- substituted indenyl ligands according to the present invention, activated with TIBAL had a much higher activity in homogeneous homo and co-polymerisation of ethylene and propylene than those based on mono-2-substituted indenyl ligands.
Claims
1. An active homogeneous catalyst system comprising: a) an activating agent of general formula AIR"3
wherein each R" is the same or different and is selected from alkoxy or alkyl groups having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms; b) an olefin; c) a dialkylated metallocene catalyst component of general formula I
R* s (RaRblnd)2 M Q2 (I)
or of formula Il
R*s (RaRblnd) ZRC M Q2 (II) wherein
- lnd is an indenyl or hydogenated indenyl;
- Ra and Rb are each independently selected hydrocarbyl having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms;
- R*is an optional structural bridge between the two indenyls or between one indenyl and heteroatom Z, imparting stereorigidity to the complex;
- s is 0 if the bridge is absent and 1 if the bridge is present
- M is a metal Group 4 of the Periodic Table; - each Q is independently selected from alkyl having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms unsubstituted or substituted with benzene;
- Z is an heteroatom selected from N, O or P;
- R° is a bulky substituent on the heteroatom that has at least 3 carbon atoms.
2. The active homogeneous catalyst system of claim 1 wherein substituents Ra and Rb on the indenyl groups are in positions 2 and 4 and are each independently selected from alkyl groups or aryl groups having at most 12 carbon atoms.
3. The active homogeneous catalyst system of claim 1 wherein substituent Ra is at 2-position on each indenyl group and is selected from alkyl group or aryl grous having at most 12 carbon atoms, and substituent Rb is a substituted or unsubstituted benzene[e] conjugated at 4,5-positions with each indenyl group.
4. The active homogeneous catalyst system of any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein bridge R* is present.
5. The active homogeneous catalyst system of claim 4 wherein the bridge is Et, Me2Si or Ph2C.
6. The active homogeneous catalyst system of any one of the preceding claims wherein the Q's are the same and are methyl groups.
7. The active homogeneous catalyst system of any one of the preceding claims wherein M is zirconium.
8. The active homogeneous catalyst system of any one of the preceding claims wherein Z is N.
9. The active homogeneous catalyst system of any one of the preceding claims wherein the activating agent is an aluminium alkyl.
10. The active homogeneous catalyst system of claim 9 wherein aluminium alkyl is TIBAL.
11. A method for preparing an active homogeneous catalyst components that comprises the steps of:
a) providing the dimethylated catalyst component of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein Q is methyl; b) adding the akyl aluminium activating agent of claim 9 or claim 10 ; c) in the presence of one or more olefin(s).
12. A method for the homogeneous homo- or co-polymerisation of ethylene or alpha-olefins that comprises the steps of: a) adding aluminium alkyl to a solvent in an amount to reach concentration of at least 1.10"2 mol/L; b) adding the monomer into the solution of step a) until a constant concentration is obtained; c) adding the optional comonomer; d) adding the active homogeneous catalyst component of any one of claims 1 to 10; e) maintaining under polymerising conditions; f) retrieving a homo- or co-polymer.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein the monomer and/or comonomer is selected from ethylene, propylene or hexene-1.
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| RU2006000273 | 2006-05-26 | ||
| RU2006000395 | 2006-07-24 | ||
| PCT/RU2007/000255 WO2007139439A2 (en) | 2006-05-26 | 2007-05-23 | Activators for the homo-or co-polymerisation of alpha-olefins with homogeneous metallocene catalyst systems |
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| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| EP2021349A2 true EP2021349A2 (en) | 2009-02-11 |
Family
ID=38779115
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| EP07747941A Withdrawn EP2021349A2 (en) | 2006-05-26 | 2007-05-23 | Activators for the homo-or co-polymerisation of alpha-olefins with homogeneous metallocene catalyst systems |
Country Status (3)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| EP (1) | EP2021349A2 (en) |
| EA (1) | EA200802395A1 (en) |
| WO (1) | WO2007139439A2 (en) |
Family Cites Families (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RU2250237C2 (en) * | 2003-06-17 | 2005-04-20 | Институт проблем химической физики Российской Академии наук | HOMOGENOUS CATALYTIC SYSTEM FOR SYNTHESIS OF COPOLYMERS OF ETHYLENE WITH PROPYLENE AND HIGHER α-OLEFINS AND ALSO PROPYLENE WITH HIGHER α-OLEFINS, METHOD OF PRODUCING COPOLYMERS OF ETHYLENE WITH PROPYLENE AND HIGHER α-OLEFINS AND ALSO PROPYLENE WITH HIGHER α-OLEFINS |
| ATE516311T1 (en) * | 2004-10-12 | 2011-07-15 | Exxonmobil Chem Patents Inc | TRIALKYLALUMINUM TREATED SUPPORT |
-
2007
- 2007-05-23 EA EA200802395A patent/EA200802395A1/en unknown
- 2007-05-23 EP EP07747941A patent/EP2021349A2/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2007-05-23 WO PCT/RU2007/000255 patent/WO2007139439A2/en not_active Ceased
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| Title |
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| See references of WO2007139439A3 * |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| EA200802395A1 (en) | 2009-06-30 |
| WO2007139439A3 (en) | 2008-06-26 |
| WO2007139439A8 (en) | 2009-01-29 |
| WO2007139439A2 (en) | 2007-12-06 |
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