Claims
- 1. Process for homopolymerization and copolymerization of olefins which comprises contacting said olefins with a catalyst comprising
- (a) an organometallic aluminum compound of the formula AlR.sub.x Cl.sub.3-x wherein R is an alkyl radical and X is between 1 and 3,
- (b) an electron donor compound which is able to form a complex with the organometallic aluminum compound (a),
- (c) a solid non-layer catalyst component made by chlorinating at least one organic magnesium compound of the formula MgR'R" wherein R' and R" are the same or different and each is an alkyl group of 1 to 20 carbon atoms, with at least one chlorinating agent which is chlorine gas or a mixture of chlorine gas and alkyl chloride to form a carrier, contacting the carrier thus obtained first with liquid titanium tetrachloride, then with an electron donor selected from the group consisting of inorganic and organic esters, amines, ethers, alcoholates, silane compound, ketones, and phosphor amides at -25.degree. to 180.degree. C. and after that at least once with titanium tetrachloride in the absence of said electron donor compound, and recovering said solid non-layer catalyst component.
- 2. Process for homopolymerization and copolymerization of olefins which comprises contacting said olefins with a catalyst according to claim 1 in which said organometallic aluminum compound is triethylaluminum.
- 3. Process as claimed in claim 2 in which said carrier is contacted with a silicone oil and an aliphatic or aromatic alcohol before contacting with titanium tetrachloride.
- 4. Process as claimed in claim 1 in which 1-butene is copolymerized with propylene in a medium comprising propane or isobutane and in a first phase in which a small quantity of propylene is first polymerized and in a second phase in which 1-butene is introduced and the polymerization is continued.
- 5. Process as claimed in claim 4 in which said carrier is contacted with a silicone oil and an aliphatic or aromatic alcohol before contacting with titanium tetrachloride.
- 6. Process for homopolymerization and copolymerization of olefins which comprises contacting said oelfins with a catalyst comprising
- (a) an organometallic aluminum compound of the formula AlR.sub.x Cl.sub.3-x wherein R is an alkyl radical and X is between 1 and 3,
- (b) an electron donor compound which is able to form a complex with the organometallic aluminum compound (a),
- (c) a solid non-layer catalyst component made by chlorinating at least one organic magnesium compound of the formula MgR'R" wherein R' and R" are the same or different and each is an alkyl group of 1 to 20 carbon atoms with at least one chlorinating agent which is chlorine gas or a mixture of chlorine gas and alkyl chloride to form a carrier, contacting the carrier thus obtained first with liquid titanium tetrachloride at a temperature below 0.degree. C., then with an electron donor selected from the group consisting of inorganic and organic esters, amines, ether, alcoholates, silane compound, ketones, and phosphor amides at -25.degree. to 180.degree. C. and after that at least once with titanium tetrachloride in the absence of said electron donor compound, and recovering said solid non-layer catalyst component.
- 7. A process according to claim 1 in which said carrier is contacted with a silicone oil and an aliphatic or aromatic alcohol before contacting with titanium tetrachloride.
Priority Claims (1)
| Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
| 3501858 |
Jan 1985 |
DEX |
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Parent Case Info
This is a division of application Ser. No. 821,070, filed Jan. 21, 1986, entitled "Catalyst Components, A Catalyst and A Process For the Polymerization of Alpha Olefins," now abandoned.
This invention concerns a new catalyst component, a catalyst containing this component and a process for polymerization of olefins by using this catalyst for obtaining stereospecific olefin polymers and copolymers with high degree of crystallinity and high molecular weight.
For polymerizing alpha olefin, such as propylene and 1-butene into crystalline polymers with high bulk density, stereospecific Ziegler-Natta catalysts are usually used. In suspension polymerizations of the prior art, catalysts based on TiCl.sub.3 with no carrier have been used as a rule. A drawback of such processes is the fact that subsequent to polymerization the action of the catalyst has to be interrupted and the catalyst has to be removed from the end product.
Better results in alpha olefin polymerization have been achieved by utilizing modified catalysts of Ziegler-Natta type, which contain a titanium-compound supported on a carrier, an organoaluminum compound and an electron donor compound. Procedures for producing catalysts of this type have been presented, for instance in the following patents: EP Pat. Nos. 0043185, 0044445, 0029623; BE Pat. Nos. 845593, 843224, 858156, 849216, 848527, 868762; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,252,670, 4,399,054, 4,158,642; GB Pat. Nos. 2,000,514; JP Pat. Nos. 53017684, 54118484, 54131589, 54103494; DE Pat. Nos. 2809318, 2734652, 2912895, 2922298 and 2831829.
An important step in the manufacture of these new catalysts is the forming of said titanium compound. There are numerous patent applications and patents which disclose the forming of said titanium compound by treating a solid magnesium compound with titanium tetrachloride in the presence or absence of an electron donor compound. The most common magnesium compound described in these publications is magnesium dichloride, which has been activated with different kinds of treatments. As the magnesium compound it has also been proposed to use organic magnesium compounds treated with halogenating agents for the manufacturing of solid carrier containing organic magnesium compound.
The morphological properties of the solid catalyst component have a great effect on the activity and other properties of the final catalyst. The morphological properties depend essentially of the starting materials used, the reagents, the reaction conditions and the order of the treatments. By changing only the order of treatments it may be possible to obtain better or worse catalytic properties. Most patent publications contain lists of materials which can be used in the manufacture of catalyst components, but very few of them give information about what materials actually have to be used, in what order or sequence and under which reaction conditions. Moreover most examples presented in the patent literature describe only the use of magnesium dichloride as the starting material of the catalyst carrier component.
It has been found according to this invention that by choosing certain starting materials and reagents in the formation of the solid titanium compound and by following certain sequence of treatments it is possible to prepare improved solid catalyst components for catalysts for polymerization of olefins to products having high degree of crystallinity and high molecular weight and good morphology. Thus the invention concerns a solid non-layer catalyst component for use in catalysts for the polymerization of olefins, which catalyst component is obtained by chlorinating at least one organic magnesium compound of the formula MgR'R" wherein R' and R" are the same or different and each is an alkyl radical of 1 to 20 carbon atoms, with at least one chlorinating agent to form a carrier compound and optionally treating said carrier compound with an aliphatic or aromatic alcohol; treating the carrier compound thus obtained with liquid titanium tetrachloride in the presence of an electron donor selected from inorganic and organic esters, amines, ethers, alcoholates, silane compounds, ketones, and phosphor amides at -25.degree. to 180.degree. C.; and recovering said solid non-layer catalyst component. The catalyst component according to the invention is characterized in that chlorine gas or mixture of chlorine gas and alkyl chloride has been used as said chlorinating agent and that the treatment with titanium tetrachloride has been carried out by treating said carrier compound first with titanium tetrachloride, then with said electron donor compound and after that at least once with titanium tetrachloride in the absence of said electron donor compound.
The invention also concerns new solid catalysts for homopolymerizing or copolymerizing olefins having 2 to 5 carbons to become polymers with high degree of crystallinity and high molecular weight. The catalyst, according to the invention, for homopolymerizing or copolymerizing alpha olefins of 2 to 5 carbon atoms is characterized in that it consists of the following components:
(a) an organimetallic aluminum compound of the form AlR.sub.x Cl.sub.3-x where R is an alkyl and x is between 1 and 3;
(b) an electron donor compound or a Lewis base which is able to form a complex together with the Al compound (a); and
(c) the solid non-layer catalyst component above.
US Referenced Citations (5)
| Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
| 4252670 |
Chunt et al. |
Feb 1981 |
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| 4279776 |
Shiga et al. |
Jul 1981 |
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| 4335229 |
Sakurai et al. |
Jun 1982 |
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Shiga et al. |
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Takitani et al. |
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Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
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| Parent |
821070 |
Jan 1986 |
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Patent Grant
4724255
