Polymerization of 3-methyl-1-butene in the presence of heterogeneous titanium-magnesium and homogeneous metallocene catalysts

The polymerization of 3-methyl-1-butene with heterogeneous titanium-magnesium and homogeneous metallocene catalysts that differ in symmetry type, such as Me 2 C(3-Me-Cp)(Flu)ZrCl 2 (C 1 symmetry) and Ph 2 C(Cp)(Flu)ZrCl 2 (C S symmetry), was studied. The activity of metallocene catalysts is much higher than that of titanium-magnesium systems under comparable conditions. Poly(3-methyl-1-butene) prepared using titanium-magnesium catalysts and MeC(3-Me-Cp)(Flu)ZrCl 2 is an isotactic polymer with a degree of crystallinity of 28.5-54%. A polymer synthesized in the presence of Ph 2 C(Cp)(Flu)ZrCl 2 is virtually amorphous. It was shown that the regularity of poly(3-methyl-1 -butene) chains depends on the type of metallocene catalyst used.