Vanadium-based catalysts copolymerisation

The use of coordination catalysts, especially homogeneous vanadium-based catalysts, for the copolymerisation of ethylene and propylene, with an ethylene content of 15-75 mol.-% in the feed, made it possible to produce amorphous... 

With the sole exception of the random ethylene-propylene copolymers, for industrial applications heterogeneous catalysts have been used for alkene polymerisations. Ethylene-propylene statistical copolymerisation has been carried out using homogeneous vanadium-based catalysts [28]. 

Let us recall also that vanadium-based soluble Ziegier-Natta catalysts have found widespread industrial application for the manufacture of elastomeric ethylene/propylene copolymers and ethylene/propylene/diene terpolymers [319-322]. The most commonly used vanadium-based catalysts for random ethylene/propylene copolymerisation are those prepared from VCI4, VOCI3, V(Acac)3, VO(OEt)Cl2, VO(OEt)2Cl or VO(OEt)3 as precursors and AlEt3, AlEt2Cl or Al(z-Bu)2Cl as activators, with an Al/V molar ratio not exceeding 3 1 [37, 72],... 

In agreement with this finding, it has been shown that, in ethylene/propylene copolymerisation with vanadium-based catalysts, propylene insertion after an ethylene insertion is substantially non-stereospecific (both cases (a) and (b) in Figure 3.46 are possible) [1,390]. 

Catalysts for ethylene/carbon monoxide copolymerisation were initially obtained from Ni(II) derivatives, such as K2Ni(CN)4 and (w-Bu4N)2 Ni(CN)4, and Pd(II) derivatives, such as [(w-Bu3P)PdCl2]2, Pd(CN)2 and HPd(CN)3, often combined with alcohol or protonic acid as a cocatalyst [241]. It must be emphasised that, in contrast to titanium-, zirconium- or vanadium-based catalysts, nickel- and palladium-based catalysts tolerate polar functional groups (including hydroxyl, carboxylic and sulfonic groups)... 

Furthermore, studies of the microstructure of copolymers formed by the low-temperature copolymerisation of cis-1 -(2 H)-propene (or trans isomer) and perdeuteropropene in the presence of soluble vanadium-based Ziegler-Natta catalysts showed syndiospecific propagation to involve a monomer insertion of the cis type [27]. 

The syndiospecific polymerisation of propylene with soluble vanadium-based Ziegler Natta catalysts is not completely regiospecific [389 392], i.e. the monomer unit enchainment is not entirely head-to-tail. In addition to syndiotactic stereoblocks, the polymer also contains sterically irregular stereoblocks. The whole polymerisation can be thus described as a copolymerisation with four head-to-tail and tail-to-tail stages [2,379]. 

Alternating copolymers have been obtained by copolymerisation of ethylene and cycloolefins (using a large excess of cycloolefin) in the presence of vanadium-based Ziegler-Natta catalysts such as V(Acac)3-AlEt2Cl and VC14 AlEt2Cl ... 

Cycloolefins having rings with more than four carbon atoms do not homo-polymerise in the presence of Ziegler-Natta catalysts based on titanium or vanadium compounds as precursors and alkylaluminium activators. However, these cycloolefins may copolymerise with ethylene via the double bonds while preserving the cycloolefin ring ethylene is able to compensate the steric hindrance at the Ca atom of the growing chain after and before the 1,2-insertion of the cycloolefin [2],... 

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