A uniform site theory of ziegler catalysis

Abstract

Abstract Polypropylene produced by the TiCl 3 –diethylaluminum chloride catalyst system was separated into two kinds of polymers, a minor atactic fraction with little or no steric order and a major fraction with a high degree of steric order. Each fraction had a wide molecular weight distribution. The relative amounts, the molecular weights and the molecular weight distributions of the fractions responded differently to changing reaction conditions. This indicates that the fractions are produced by separate catalysts and by different reaction mechanisms. Polymer/catalyst mole ratios from polymerizations at various conditions showed that a least one‐half of the TiCl 3 content of a catalyst may become directly involved in the polymerization process. A theory is developed which states that (1) the (unactivated) stereospecific fraction of the catalyst consists of molecules containing eight TiCl 3 units which are separated from each other by AlCl 3 in solid solution; (2) two chlorine atoms in this molecule are replaced with alkyl groups in the first step of activation; (3) the molecule contains two active sites, one d‐ and the other l ‐orienting; (4) the molecules are crystallized in an open structure which has equally reactive sites uniformly spaced; and (5) the AlCl 3 component is not an inherent part of the stereospecific catalytic structure but it contributes to high activity by opening the crystal structure.