MONOMER-ISOMERIZATION POLYMERIZATION .19. MONOMER-ISOMERIZATION COPOLYMERIZATIONS OF METHYLBUTENES AND 2-BUTENE WITH ZIEGLER-NATTA CATALYST

In the reported experiments, the copolymerization of 3-methyl-1-butene (3M1B), 2-methyl-2-butene (2M2B), or 2-methyl-1-butene (2M1B) with trans-2-butene (2B) was attempted in the presence of a Ziegler-Natta catalyst. It was found that 3M1B underwent monomer-isomerization copolymerization with 2B to give a copolymer consisting of both 3M1B and 1-butene (1B) units, with an infrared (IR) spectrum in good agreement with that obtained from the copolymerization of 3M1B with 1B under similar conditions. When the apparent copolymerization parameters obtained by a TiCl//3 minus (C//2H//5)//3Al catalyst were compared, the apparent reactivity of 3M1B observed in the 3M1B-2B system was much higher than that in the 3M1B-1B system. However, 2M2B and 2M1B did not undergo monomer-isomerization copolymerization with 2B, and only the homopolymer of 1B was obtained under similar conditions.