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
  • C08F4/00—Polymerisation catalysts
  • C08F4/02—Carriers therefor
• • 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
  • C08F10/00—Homopolymers and copolymers of unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons having only one carbon-to-carbon double bond
  • C08F10/04—Monomers containing three or four carbon atoms
  • C08F10/06—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
  • C08F4/00—Polymerisation catalysts
  • C08F4/42—Metals; Metal hydrides; Metallo-organic compounds; Use thereof as catalyst precursors
  • C08F4/44—Metals; Metal hydrides; Metallo-organic compounds; Use thereof as catalyst precursors selected from light metals, zinc, cadmium, mercury, copper, silver, gold, boron, gallium, indium, thallium, rare earths or actinides
  • C08F4/60—Metals; Metal hydrides; Metallo-organic compounds; Use thereof as catalyst precursors selected from light metals, zinc, cadmium, mercury, copper, silver, gold, boron, gallium, indium, thallium, rare earths or actinides together with refractory metals, iron group metals, platinum group metals, manganese, rhenium technetium or compounds thereof
  • C08F4/62—Refractory metals or compounds thereof
  • C08F4/64—Titanium, zirconium, hafnium or compounds thereof
  • C08F4/65—Pretreating the metal or compound covered by group C08F4/64 before the final contacting with the metal or compound covered by group C08F4/44
  • C08F4/652—Pretreating with metals or metal-containing compounds
  • C08F4/654—Pretreating with metals or metal-containing compounds with magnesium or compounds thereof
• • 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
  • C08F110/02—Ethene
• • 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

Definitions

• the present invention relates to adducts between magnesium dichloride, ethanol and specific amounts of other alcohols.
• the adducts of the present invention are particularly useful as precursors of catalyst components for the polymerization of olei ⁇ ns.
• MgCl 2 #alcohol adducts and their use in the preparation of catalyst components for the polymerization of olei ⁇ ns are well known in the art.
• Catalyst components for the polymerization of olefins obtained by reacting MgCl 2 »nEtOH adducts with halogenated transition metal compounds, are described in USP 4,399,054.
• the adducts are prepared by emulsifying the molten adduct in an immiscible dispersing medium and quenching the emulsion in a cooling fluid to collect the adduct in the form of spherical particles. No physical characterization regarding the degree of cristallinity of the adducts is reported.
• Said adducts can be of formula MgCl 2 »mEtOH»nH 2 0 where m is between 2.2 and 3.8 and n is between 0.01 and 0.6.
• the adducts are characterized by a Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) profile in which no peaks are present at temperatures below 90°C or, even if peaks are present below said temperature, the fusion enthalpy associated with said peaks is less than 30% of the total fusion enthalpy.
• DSC Differential Scanning Calorimetry
• EP 123767 discloses a catalyst component obtained by reacting a titanium compound and a vanadium compound with a solid support obtained by the spray drying of MgCl 2 in a mixed solution of methanol and ethanol.
• the spray-dried support contains a low amount of total alcohol content (about 1 mole or less of total alcohol per mole of MgCl 2 ) in combination with a generally high molar content of methanol with respect to ethanol.
• the activity shown by these catalysts are generally low and in particular it does not improve by partial replacement of the ethanol with methanol. In fact, example 2 in which only ethanol is used has the highest productivity.
• the applicant has now found that it is possible to improve the polymerization activities of the catalyst of the prior art when the catalyst component is prepared by starting with supports containing MgCk, ethanol and another alcohol in specific proportions.
• the present invention therefore relates to MgCl 2 *(EtOH)m(ROH) n (H 2 0) p adducts in which R is a C1-C15 hydrocarbon group different from ethyl, optionally substituted with heteroatoms containing groups, n and m are indexes, higher than 0, satisfying the equations n+m ⁇ 0.7 and
• 0.05 -.6/(n+m) . 0.95 and p is a number ranging from 0 to 0.7 with the proviso that when R is methyl and (n+m) is in the range of 0.7 to 1, the value of n/(n+m) ranges from 0.05 to 0.45.
• (n+m) is higher than 1 and in particular it ranges from 2 to 5.
• the value n/(n+m) ranges from 0.1 to 0.4 and preferably from 0.15 to 0.35.
• the index p typically ranges from 0.01 to 0.6 and particularly from 0.01 to 0.4.
• Preferred R groups are methyl and C3-C10 saturated hydrocarbon groups, in particular methyl and C3-C8 alkyl groups.
• ROH alcohols according to the invention are methanol, propanol, isopropanol, n-butanol, i-propanol, sec-butanol, tert-butanol, pentanol, 2-methyl-l- pentanol, 2-ethyl-l-hexanol, phenol, 4-methyl-l -phenol, 2,6-dimethyl-l -phenol, cyclohexanol, cyclopentanol.
• Methanol, n-butanol, sec-butanol, i-propanol, and 2-methyl-l-pentanol are. preferred. Methanol is especially preferred.
• the adducts of the present invention can be prepared according to several methods. According to one of these methods the adducts are prepared by contacting the desired amounts of MgCb ethanol and ROH alcohol, optionally in the presence of an inert liquid diluent, heating the system at the melting temperature of MgCl 2 EtOH-alcohol adduct or above, and maintaining said conditions so as to obtain a completely molten adduct. Said molten adduct is then emulsified in a liquid medium which is immiscible with and chemically inert to it and finally quenched by contacting the adduct with an inert cooling liquid thereby obtaining the solidification of the adduct.
• the adduct is kept at a temperature equal to or higher than its melting temperature, under stirring conditions, for a time period equal to or greater than 10 hours, preferably from 10 to 150 hours, more preferably from 20 to 100 hours.
• the liquid in which the molten adduct is emulsified can be any liquid immiscible with and chemically inert to the molten adduct.
• aliphatic, aromatic or cycloaliphatic hydrocarbons can be used as well as silicone oils. Aliphatic hydrocarbons such as vaseline oil are particularly preferred.
• An alternative way for obtaining the adduct of the invention in solid form comprises the formation of the molten adduct as disclosed above and the use of an associated spray-cooling process for solidifying the adduct.
• this option it is preferred that in the first step the magnesium chloride, the ethanol and the ROH alcohol be contacted to each other in the absence of an inert liquid diluent.
• the adduct is sprayed, through the use of the proper devices that are commercially available, in an environment having temperature so low as to cause rapid solidification of the particles.
• the cold environment can comprise a cold liquid or gas.
• the adduct is sprayed in a cold liquid environment and more preferably in a cold liquid hydrocarbon.
• Another usable method comprises contacting a ROH alcohol with an already preformed solid MgCl 2 -ethanol adduct.
• the contact between the desired amounts of MgCl 2 -ethanol adduct and the ROH alcohol can be carried out in liquid hydrocarbon medium under stirring conditions.
• the final adducts may contain an undesired amount of water even if it has not been added as a separate component.
• Means for controlling or lowering the water content in solids or fluids are well known in the art.
• the water content in MgCl 2 can be for example lowered by drying it in an oven at high temperatures or by reacting it with a compound which is reactive towards water.
• a stream of HCl can be used to remove water from MgCl 2 .
• Water from the fluids can be removed by various techniques such as distillation or by allowing the fluids to become in contact with substances capable to subtract water such as molecular sieves.
• these adducts can be advantageously used in the preparation of catalyst components for the polymerization of olef ⁇ ns.
• the said catalyst components can be obtained by contacting the adducts of the invention with compounds of transition metals belonging to one of the compound of one of the groups 4 to 6 of the Periodic Table of Elements (new notation).
• transition metal compounds particularly preferred are titanium compounds of formula Ti(OR) n X y - n in which n is comprised between 0 and y; y is the valence of titanium; X is halogen and R is an alkyl radical having 1-10 carbon atoms or a COR group.
• titanium compounds having at least one Ti-halogen bond such as titanium tetrahalides or halogenalcoholates.
• Preferred specific titanium compounds are TiC.3, TiCl 4 , Ti(OBu) , Ti(OBu)Cl 3 , Ti(OBu) 2 Cl 2 , Ti(OBu) 3 Cl.
• the contact is carried out by suspending the adduct in cold TiCl (generally 0°C); then the so obtained mixture is heated up to 80-130°C and kept at this temperature for 0.5-2 hours. After that the excess of TiCl 4 is removed and the solid component is recovered.
• the treatment with TiCl can be carried out one or more times.
• the reaction between transition metal compound and the adduct can also be carried out in the presence of an electron donor compound (internal donor) in particular when the preparation of a stereospecific catalyst for the polymerization of olefins is to be prepared.
• Said electron donor compound can be selected from esters, ethers, amines, silanes and ketones. As a result of this contact the electron donor compound normally remains deposited on the catalyst component.
• the alkyl and aryl esters of mono or polycarboxylic acids such as for example esters of benzoic, phthalic, malonic, glutaric and succinic acid are preferred.
• esters are n- butylphthalate, di-isobutylphthalate, di-n-octylphthalate, diethyl 2,2-diisopropylsuccinate, diethyl 2,2-dicyclohexyl-succinate, ethyl-benzoate and p-ethoxy ethyl-benzoate.
• R, R , R , R , R and R are hydrogen or hydrocarbon radicals having from 1 to 18 carbon atoms, and R VI and R v ⁇ , equal or different from each other, have the same meaning of R-R except that they cannot be hydrogen; one or more of the R-R v ⁇ groups can be linked to form a cycle.
• the 1,3-diethers in which R VI and R ⁇ are selected from C ⁇ -C 4 alkyl radicals are particularly preferred.
• the electron donor compound is generally present in molar ratios with respect to the magnesium comprised between 1 :4 and 1 :20.
• the particles of the solid catalyst components have substantially spherical morphology and an average diameter comprised between 5 and 150 ⁇ m.
• substantial spherical morphology are meant those particles having a ratio between the greater and smaller axis equal to or lower than 1.5 and preferably lower than 1.3.
• partially dealcoholated adducts can be obtained having an alcohol content generally ranging from 0.1 to 2.6 moles of alcohol per mole of MgCl 2 .
• the adducts are reacted with the transition metal compound, according to the techniques described above, in order to obtain the solid catalyst components.
• the solid catalyst components according to the present invention show a surface area (by B.E.T. method) generally between 10 and 500 m 2 /g and preferably between 20 and 350 m 2 /g, and a total porosity (by B.E.T. method) higher than 0.15 cm /g preferably between 0.2 and 0.6 cm /g.
• the catalyst components comprising the reaction product of a transition metal compound with a MgCl 2 -alcohol adduct which is in turn obtained by partially dealcoholating the adducts of the invention, show improved properties, particularly in terms of activity, with respect to the catalyst components prepared from the dealcoholated adducts of the prior art.
• the alkyl-Al compound is preferably chosen among the trialkyl aluminum compounds such as for example triethylaluminum, triisobutylaluminum, tri-n-butylaluminum, tri-n-hexylaluminum, tri-n- octylaluminum. It is also possible to use alkylaluminum halides, alkylaluminum hydrides or alkylaluminum sesquichlorides such as AlEt 2 Cl and Al 2 Et 3 Cl 3 optionally in mixture with said trialkyl aluminum compounds..
• the Al/Ti ratio is higher than 1 and is generally comprised between 20 and 800.
• an electron donor compound (external donor) which can be the same or different from the compound used as internal donor can be used in the preparation of the catalysts disclosed above.
• the external donor is preferably selected from the silane compounds containing at least a Si-OR link, having the formula R a 1 Rb 2 Si(OR 3 ) c , where a and b are integer from 0 to 2, c is an integer from 1 to 3 and the sum (a+b+c) is 4; R , R , and R , are alkyl, cycloalkyl or aryl radicals with 1-18 carbon atoms. Particularly preferred are the silicon compounds in
• R is selected from branched alkyl, cycloalkyl or aryl groups with 3-10 carbon atoms and R is a Ci-Cio alkyl group, in particular methyl.
• Examples of such preferred silicon compounds are methylcyclohexyldimethoxysilane, diphenyldimethoxysilane, methyl-t-butyldimethoxysilane, dicyclopentyldimethoxysilane.
• examples of such preferred silicon compounds are cyclohexyltrimethoxysilane, t-butyltrimethoxysilane and mexyltximethoxysilane.
• 1,3 diethers having the previously described formula can be used as external donor.
• the catalysts of the invention can be used in any of the olefin polymerization processes known in the art. They can be used for example in slurry polymerization using as diluent an inert hydrocarbon solvent or bulk polymerization using the liquid monomer (for example propylene) as a reaction medium. Moreover, they can also be used in the polymerization process carried out in gas-phase operating in one or more fluidized or mechanically agitated bed reactors.
• the polymerization is generally carried out at temperature of from 20 to 120°C, preferably of from 40 to 80°C.
• the operating pressure is generally between 0.1 and 10 MPa, preferably between 1 and 5 MPa.
• the operating pressure is generally between 1 and 6 MPa preferably between
• the catalysts of the invention are very useful for preparing a broad range of polyolefm products.
• specific examples of the olefinic polymers which can be prepared are: high density ethylene polymers (HDPE, having a density higher than 0.940 g cc), comprising ethylene homopolymers and copolymers of ethylene with alpha-olefins having 3-12 carbon atoms; linear low density polyethylenes (LLDPE, having a density lower than 0.940 g/cc) and very low density and ultra low density (VLDPE and ULDPE, having a density lower than 0.920 g/cc, to 0.880 g/cc) consisting of copolymers of ethylene with one or more alpha-olefins having from 3 to 12 carbon atoms, having a mole content of units derived from the ethylene higher than 80%; isotactic polypropylenes and crystalline copolymers of propylene and ethylene and/or other alpha-olefin
• the ethanol and ROH content are determined via GC analysis.
• the resulting solution was evaporated in nitrogen flow and the residue was dried and weighed to determine the percentage of soluble polymer and then, by difference the xylene insoluble fraction ( %).
• the non-reacted propylene was removed, the polymer was recovered and dried at 70 °C under vacuum for three hours and, then, weighed and fractionated with o-xylene to determine the amount of the xylene insoluble (X.I.) fraction at 25 °C.
• the emulsion was transferred under nitrogen flux to a second 5 L glass reactor containing 1500 mL hexane under stirring (350-400 RPM) at -15 ⁇ -20°C.
• the suspension was stirred 2 h at -10°C, then the temperature was raised to 0°C in 20 min, the stirring was continued 1 hour at this temperature.
• the temperature was raised to 10°C in 20 min and, after 1 h, it was raised again to 25°C.
• the stirring was continued for 2 hours at 25°C and then the mixture was allowed to settle and left to stay at 25°C overnight.
• the solid MgCl 2m (EtOH)n(ROH) spherical support was recovered by filtration, washed twice with 400 mL of hexane and once with 400 mL of pentane and finally dried under vacuum.
• the temperature was raised to 120 °C and maintained for 60 min. Then, the stirring was discontinued, the solid product was allowed to settle and the supernatant liquid was siphoned off.
• the supports have been prepared according to the general procedure reported above. The specific conditions under which the supports have been prepared and the results of the analysis are shown in Table 1.
• the supports have been prepared according to the general procedure reported above. The specific conditions under which the supports have been prepared and the results of the analysis are shown in Table 1.

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• 2004
  • 2004-03-09 WO PCT/EP2004/002519 patent/WO2004085495A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2004-03-09 BR BRPI0409017-9A patent/BRPI0409017B1/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2004-03-09 EP EP04709240A patent/EP1611164B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
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