MONOMER-ISOMERIZATION POLYMERIZATION .26. FORMATION OF POLYALLYLCYCLOHEXANE FROM PROPENYLCYCLOHEXANE THROUGH MONOMER-ISOMERIZATION POLYMERIZATION WITH ZIEGLER-NATTA CATALYSTS

Monomer-isomerization polymerization of propenylcyclohexane (PCH) with TiCl3 and R(3-x)AlCl(x) (R = C2H5 or i-C4H9, x = 1-3) catalysts was studied. It was found that PCH underwent monomer-isomerization polymerization to give a high molecular weight polymer consisting of an allylcyclohexane (ACH) repeat unit. Among the alkylaluminum cocatalysts examined, (C2H5)3Al was the most effective cocatalyst for the monomer-isomerization polymerization of PCH, and a maximum for the polymerization was observed at a molar ratio of Al/Ti of about 2.0. The addition of isomerization catalysts such as nickel acetylacetonate [Ni(acac)2] to the TiCl3-(C2H5)3Al catalyst accelerated the monomer-isomerization polymerization of PCH and gave a maximum for the polymerization at a Ni/Ti molar ratio of 0.5. PCH also undergoes monomer-isomerization copolymerization with 2-butene (2B).