Active Sites in a Heterogeneous Organometallic Catalyst for the Polymerization of Ethylene

Active Sites in a Heterogeneous Organometallic Catalyst for the Polymerization of Ethylene

Culver, Damien B. (University of California)
Dorn, Rick W. (Iowa State University)
Venkatesh, Amrit (Iowa State University)
Meeprasert, J. (TU Delft ChemE/Inorganic Systems Engineering)
Rossini, Aaron J. (Iowa State University)
Pidko, E.A. (TU Delft ChemE/Algemeen; TU Delft ChemE/Inorganic Systems Engineering)
Lipton, Andrew S. (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
Lief, Graham R. (Chevron Phillips Chemical, Bartlesville)
Conley, Matthew P. (University of California)

2021

Heterogeneous derivatives of catalysts discovered by Ziegler and Natta are important for the industrial production of polyolefin plastics. However, the interaction between precatalysts, alkylaluminum activators, and oxide supports to form catalytically active materials is poorly understood. This is in contrast to homogeneous or model heterogeneous catalysts that contain resolved molecular structures that relate to activity and selectivity in polymerization reactions. This study describes the reactivity of triisobutylaluminum with high surface area aluminum oxide and a zirconocene precatalyst. Triisobutylaluminum reacts with the zirconocene precatalyst to form hydrides and passivates -OH sites on the alumina surface. The combination of passivated alumina and zirconium hydrides formed in this mixture generates ion pairs that polymerize ethylene.

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:61f9e20f-bcc9-4328-8927-e7fc8437eb29

https://doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.1c00466

2374-7943

ACS Central Science, 7 (7), 1225-1231

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2021 Damien B. Culver, Rick W. Dorn, Amrit Venkatesh, J. Meeprasert, Aaron J. Rossini, E.A. Pidko, Andrew S. Lipton, Graham R. Lief, Matthew P. Conley