Method for preparation of unsaturated alpha-olefin copolymers
AssigneeExxon Chemical Patents Inc.
InventorsBradley P. Etherton, James J. McAlpin, Terrence Huff, Edward N. Kresge
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Abstract
Disclosed are unsaturated .alpha.-olefin/.alpha., .omega.-diene copolymers, and a method of preparation thereof. The copolymers are generally crystalline, free of gel and cross-links, and contain unsaturated side chains and long chain branching. The copolymers contain up to 5 mole percent diene incorporated therein, and may be prepared by copolymerization using a solid-phase, insoluble coordination catalyst, without a solvent, and below the crystalline melting point of the copolymer.
Claims18
A method for preparing copolymers of an .alpha.-olefin and an .alpha.,.omega. diene, comprising:
- charging to a polymerization reaction zone from 80 to 99.99 weight percent of an .alpha.-olefin selected from the group consisting of ethylene, propylene, and butene-1, from 0.01 to 20 weight percent of an .alpha.,.omega.-diene having from 7 to about 30 carbon atoms, and a solid heterogeneous coordination catalyst;
- maintaining the reaction zone essentially free of solvent and at a temperature at which the .alpha.-olefin is fluid but below the crystalline melting point of the copolymer effective to produce an essentially gel-free, copolymer having unsaturated side chains present in the range of from about 0.001 to about 5 mole percent of the copolymer;
- wherein said copolymer has greater than about 80 weight percent heptane insolubles;
- and
- wherein said copolymer has a branching index in the range of from about 0.2 to about 0.9.
A method for preparing a copolymer of an .alpha.-olefin and an .alpha.,.omega. diene, comprising:
- charging from 95 to 99.99 mole percent of an .alpha.-olefin selected from the group consisting of ethylene, propylene, and butene-1 to a reaction zone with from 0.01 to 5 mole percent of an .alpha.,.omega. diene of from 7 to 12 carbon atoms, up to 10 mole percent hydrogen, and a solid, heterogeneous Ziegler catalyst;
- maintaining the reaction zone essentially free of solvent and at a temperature at which the .alpha.-olefin is fluid but substantially below the crystalline melting point of the copolymer;
- and
- recovering an essentially gel-free copolymer from the reaction zone, wherein the copolymer has from about 0.1 to about 1 mole percent unsaturated side chains;
- wherein said copolymer has greater than about 80 weight percent heptane insolubles and wherein said copolymer has a branching index in the range of from about 0.2 to about 0.9.
A method of preparing an essentially gel-free copolymer of propylene and an .alpha.,.omega. diene comprising:
- charging from 99.95 to 98 mole percent propylene, from 0.05 to 2 mole percent 1,9-decadiene, from 0.01 to 5 mole percent hydrogen, and a solid heterogeneous Ziegler catalyst to a reaction zone;
- maintaining the reaction zone essentially free of solvent and at a temperature below about 150.degree. C. effective to randomly copolymerize said propylene and said diene;
- and recovering an essentially gel-free isotactic copolymer;
- wherein said copolymer has a branching index in the range of from about 0.2 to about 0.9, wherein said copolymer has greater than about 80 weight percent heptane insolubles wherein said copolymer has about and of from about 0.1 to about 1 mole percent unsaturated side chains.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.