Living random and block copolymerization of ethene and propene on a tailor-made phenoxyimine catalyst and characterization of the resulting high molecular weight PE-block-P(E-co-P) block copolymers

The phenoxyimine catalyst (bis-(N-(3′,5′-diiodo-salicylidene)-2,6-difluoroaniline)-titanium(IV)-dichloride) was tailored to enable random and block copolymerisation of propylene and ethylene with compositions covering the entire feasible composition range. Well-defined high molecular weight diblock copolymers of the type PE-block-P(E-co-P), consisting of a semi-crystalline polyethylene and a soft P(E-co-P) block, were prepared and evaluated with respect to propylene content and the block lengths. The characterisation by means of AFM, CRYSTAF data and high temperature chromatographic elution provided the experimental evidence that no homo-polyethylene and less than 5% of the random copolymer are formed as by-products.