Process for polymerizing alpha-olefins with an organo aluminum compound, transition metal halide, organo nitrogen base and water catalyst

摘要

Alpha-olefins are polymerized to polymers at least prevailingly consisting of isotactic macromolecules in the presence of a catalyst formed from an organo-metallic compound of a metal of Group I, II or III of the Mendeleeff Periodic Table and at least one halide of a transition metal of Group IV, V or VI in which the metal has a valency lower than the maximum and a complex formed by treating a nitrogen-containing organic base with 10 to 100 mole per cent of water with respect to the organic base. The organic base may be pyridine or diethylamine. Other catalyst components may be titanium trichloride and triethyl aluminium. The olefin may be propylene or butene-1. The products may be washed with methanolic hydrochloric acid and methanol. Polymerization may be effected in an inert diluent, e.g. heptane, and the catalyst preparation in the presence of a small amount of a liquid having a relatively high solubility for water, e.g. benzene.