Homo- and copolymerization of styrene and 1-alkene using Ph2Zn-Et(Ind)2ZrCl2-MAO initiator systems

Homopolymerization of α-olefins (1-CnH2n, n = 6, 8, 10, 12, 16 and 18) and their copolymerization with styrene were carried out in toluene at 60 °C using diphenylzinc-ethenylbisindenylzirconium dichloride-methylaluminoxane as initiator system. Atactic polystyrene and almost isotactic poly(α-olefin)s were obtained. Copolymerization of S/α-olefin with this initiator system gave isotactic olefin-enriched copolymers. According to DSC analysis, the homopolymers P(1-C12H24), P(1-C16H32), and P(1-C18H36) as well their styrene copolymers are crystalline.