New Reactive Polyolefins Containing p-Methylstyrene; Ranging from Semicrystalline Thermoplastics to Amorphous Elastomers

This paper describes a new class of reactive polyolefins, containing reactive p-methylstyrene (p-MS) groups. The chemistry involves the copolymerization reactions between ethylene and p-MS and terpolymerization of ethylene p-MS and 1-octene in the presence of homogeneous metallocene catalyst systems. Three catalyst systems, i.e. Cp₂ZrCl₂MAO (I), Et(Ind)₂ZrCl₂/MAO (II) and [C₅Me₄(SiMe₂Nt-Bu)]TiCl₂/MAO (III) were studied in the copolymerization reactions. p-MS-containing polyethylene copolymers with a broad range of compositions (from semi-crystalline thermoplastic, thermoplastic elastomer to completely amorphous elastomer) and narrow composition and molecular weight distribution were synthesized. Catalyst III was also studied in the terpolymerization of ethylene, 1-octene and p-MS to produce p-MS-containing polyolefin elastomers. A new class of polyolefin elastomers, containing reactive p-MS groups, with a broad composition and glass transition temperature (Tg) ranges, high molecular weight and narrow molecular weight and composition distributions were achieved.