Titanium complexes with trialkyls

Many soluble catalysts are known which will polymerize ethylene and butadiene. High activity soluble catalysts are employed commercially for diene polymerization but most soluble types are inefficient for olefin polymerization. A few are crystalline and of known structure such as blue (7r-C5H5)2TiCl. AlEtaCl [49] and red [(tt-CsHs )2TiAlEt2 ] 2 [50]. The complex (tt-CsHs )2TiCl2. AlEt2Cl polymerizes ethylene rapidly but decomposes quickly to the much less active blue trivalent titanium complex. Soluble catalysts are obtained from titanium alkoxides or acetyl acetonates with aluminium trialkyls and these polymerize ethylene and butadiene. Several active species have been identified, dependent on the temperature of formation and the Al/Ti ratio. Reduction to the trivalent state is slow and incomplete and maximum activity for ethylene polymerization occurs at about 25% reduction to Ti [51]. 

It can be seen that both the solvent and the catalyst affect the structure of the polymer produced. For example, the structure of the polyisoprene differs strongly with the alkali metal, even when used in the same solvent medium. Experiments with a typical organometallic complex catalyst, consisting of trialkyl-aluminum and titanium tetrachloride, show that the same initiator can lead to quite different structures in the products of polymerization of isoprene and of butadiene. 

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