Interaction of ¹⁴CO with Ziegler‐type heterogeneous catalysts and effect of interaction products on the determination of the amount of active centers

Abstract

Abstract The interaction of 14 CO with Ziegler‐type heterogeneous catalysts (titanium‐magnesium catalysts, titanium trichloride) in the absence of an olefin was studied. This reaction was found to produce radioactive products soluble in hexane. Formation of such products takes place in the presence of both titanium chloride and AlR 3 , and is attributed to the insertion of 14 CO into the Ti‐R bonds. For titanium‐magnesium catalysts the number of labels in hexane may exceed the number of titanium atoms in the catalysts, which indicates that the Ti‐R bond may be regenerated by AlR 3 . In the starting phase labelled products are formed at maximum rate, which is an evidence that a rapid insertion of 14 CO (some minutes) into Ti‐R bonds takes place. The effect of side labelled products on polypropylene radioactivity is examined and the necessity to purify the polymers from radioactive impurities is shown. The influence of the side process of the interaction of 14 CO with the catalytic system on the determination of the amount of active centers is discussed.