Copolymerizations of oxygen-functionalized olefins with propylene using metallocene/methylaluminoxane catalyst

Nine oxygen-functionalized olefins were copolymerized with propylene by using a homogeneous Et(Ind)(2)ZrCl2 catalyst activated with methylaluminoxane (MAO). In addition to alcohols, comonomers containing acid or ester functionalities could also be copolymerized. The structure of the comonomer had a marked effect on its polymerizability and on the deactivation of the catalyst. The longer the spacer group the better the incorporation of the comonomer. The highest comonomer content of polymer (2.7 wt%) was achieved with 10-undecen-1-ol and the highest conversion (12.1%) with 10-undecenoic acid. Steric protection of the functional group diminished the deactivating influence of the comonomer. The comonomers containing keto or weakly shielded ester groups poisoned the catalyst most. Incorporation of functional comonomer was accompanied by a decrease in the melting temperature of the polymer. The molar masses of the copolymers were slightly lower than the molar mass of the propylene homopolymer and the molar mass distributions of all copolymers were narrow. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.