Polymerization, Natta-Ziegler

Copyright 2001 John Wiley Sons, Inc. ISBNs 0-471-35833-9 (Hardback) 0-471-22041-8 (Electronic) 

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Ziegler-Natta polymerization Stereospecific polymerization of olefines using a Ziegler catalyst. See titanium(IIl) chloride. 

The preparation and structure determination of ferrocene marked the beginning of metallocene chemistry Metallocenes are organometallic compounds that bear cyclo pentadiemde ligands A large number are known even some m which uranium is the metal Metallocenes are not only stucturally interesting but many of them have useful applications as catalysts for industrial processes Zirconium based metallocenes for example are the most widely used catalysts for Ziegler-Natta polymerization of alkenes We 11 have more to say about them m Section 14 15... 

Cyclic Polyolefins (GPO) and Gycloolefin Copolymers (GOG). Japanese and European companies are developing amorphous cycHc polyolefins as substrate materials for optical data storage (213—217). The materials are based on dicyclopentadiene and/or tetracyclododecene (10), where R = H, alkyl, or COOCH. Products are formed by Ziegler-Natta polymerization with addition of ethylene or propylene (11) or so-called metathesis polymerization and hydrogenation (12), (101,216). These products may stiU contain about 10% of the dicycHc stmcture (216). 

Ziegler-Natta Polymerization. The polymeri2ation of propylene with Ziegler-Natta catalysts, ie, complexes of TiCl3—(C2H3)3A1 on MgCl2... 

APAOs has limited their utility in a number of applications. The broad MWD produces poor machining and spraying, and the low cohesive strength causes bond failures at temperatures well below the softening point when minimal stress is applied. To address these deficiencies, metallocene-polymerized materials have been developed [17,18]. These materials have much narrower MWDs than Ziegler-Natta polymerized materials and a more uniform comonomer distribution (see Table 3). Materials available commercially to date are better suited to compete with conventional EVA and EnBA polymers, against which their potential benefits have yet to be realized in practice. 

Section 14.15 Coordination polymerization of ethylene and propene has the biggest economic impact of any organic chemical process. Ziegler-Natta polymerization is canied out using catalysts derived from transition metals such as titanium and zirconium. ir-Bonded and a-bonded organometallic compounds aie intennediates in coordination polymerization. 

Examine the sequence of structures corresponding to Ziegler-Natta polymerization of ethene, or more specifically, one addition step starting from a zirconocene-ethene complex where R=CH3. Plot energy (vertical axis) vs. frame number (horizontal axis). Sketch Lewis structures for the initial complex, the final adduct and the transition state. Indicate weak or partial bonding by using dotted lines. 

Ziegler-Natta polymerization is used extensively for the polymerization of simple olefins (such as ethylene, propene, and 1-butene) and is the focus of much academic attention, as even small improvements to a commercial process operated on... 

Alkene polymerization can be carried out in a controlled manner using a Ziegler-Natta catalyst. Ziegler-Natta polymerization minimizes the amount of chain branching in the polymer and leads to stereoregular chains—either isotactic (substituents on the same side of the chain) or syndiotactic (substituents on alternate sides of the chain), rather than atactic (substituents randomly disposed). 

Mejzlik, J., Lesna, M. and Kratochvila, J. Determination of the Number of Active Centers in Ziegler-Natta Polymerizations of Olefins. Vol. 81, pp. 83 — 120. 

A linear mechanism similar to the accepted mechanisms for Ziegler-Natta polymerization, which has been proposed, e.g. by Marshall and Ridgewell (21), is also excluded by the tracer experiments. 

Keii, T., Kinetics of Ziegler-Natta Polymerization. Kodansha Scientific Books, Tokyo, 1972. 

Protonation of the TMM complexes with [PhNMe2H][B(C6Fs)4] in chlorobenzene at —10 °C provided cationic methallyl complexes which are thermally robust in solution at elevated temperatures as determined by NMR spectroscopy. In contrast, addition of BfCgFsls to the neutral TMM precursors provided zwitterionic allyl complexes (Scheme 98). Surprisingly, it was found that neither the cationic nor the zwitterionic complexes are active initiators for the Ziegler-Natta polymerization of ethylene and a-olefins. °°... 

Keii T (1982) Kinetics of Ziegler-Natta polymerization. Chapman Hall, London... 

The mechanistic similarity between Ziegler-Natta polymerization of olefins and the alkene cyclization reactions described above suggested that early transition metal catalysts would be effective catalysts for the coupling of... 

Thus, in the presence of methylaluminoxane (MAO) at 23°C, (C5H5B-N(/-Pr)2)2 ZrCl2 polymerizes ethylene with an activity of 105 kg ofpolyethylene/(h [Zr] mol), similar to that observed with well-studied Cp2ZrCl2 as the catalyst. It is believed that MAO is functioning in its usual role in these Ziegler-Natta polymerizations (methylation of Zr and abstraction of methyl to form a highly reactive Zr cation).41... 

The summations extend from n = 2 to n. = oo.) Keii [Kinetics of Ziegler-Natta Polymerization, Kodansha, Tokyo, 1972] has noted that under steady-state reaction conditions, the number of polymer molecules with degree of polymerization n desorbing per unit catalyst surface area in unit time may be written as... 

In this contribution, we review the mechanism of polymerization and oligomerization involving early transition metals, taking as our basis recent results in advanced organometallic chemistry. First of all, some recent examples of the previous reviews concerning the Ziegler-Natta polymerization are cited [1-10]. Then, relevant new reports are surveyed in a systematic fashion. 

In the propagation process of Ziegler-Natta polymerization, the insertion of olefin into a metal-carbon bond is the most important basic step, but many questions concerning to this process remained unanswered for a long time. 

In many ways, TiCl4 behaves as a covalent compound of a nonmetal. It is a strong Lewis acid that forms complexes with many types of Lewis bases, and it hydrolyzes in water. It also reacts with alcohols to yield compounds having the formula Ti(OR)4. However, it is the behavior of TiCl4 (reacting with [A1(C2H5)3]2) as a catalyst in the Ziegler-Natta polymerization of ethylene that is the most important use of the compound (see Chapter 22). 

These results at least demonstrate that ethylene can be polymerized by an alkylidene hydride catalyst, probably by forming a metallacyclobutane hydride intermediate. The extent to which this is relevant to the more classical Ziegler-Natta polymerization systems (27) is unknown. Recent results in lutetium chemistry (28), where alkylidene hydride complexes are thought to be unlikely, provide strong evidence for the classical mechanism. 

Polymerization reactions of olefins and dienes cannot be treated here in detail. Knowledge of the early steps which occur on nickel, as in oligomerization reactions, help explain the course of polymerization reactions and particularly their stereospecific character, as in Ziegler-Natta polymerization. 

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