Strong influences of polymerization temperature on ethylene/1-hexene copolymerization catalyzed by (2-PhInd)(2)ZrCl(2)/methyl aluminoxane.

Ethylene/1-hexene was copolymerized by an unbridged zirconocene, (2-PhInd)(2)ZrCl(2)/MAO (methyl aluminoxane) at 0 degrees C and 50 degrees C respectively. High copolymerization activity and 1-hexene incorporation were observed at 0 degrees C, with the copolymer formed having random sequence distribution and narrow molecular weight distribution. Ethylene polymerization at 50 degrees C showed high activity, but copolymerization at 50 degrees C showed much lower activity, which decreased sharply with increasing 1-hexene concentration in the monomer feed. Copolymer formed at 50 degrees C showed blocky sequence distribution and broad molecular weight distribution. A mechanism model based on ligand rotation hindered by the propagation chain has been proposed to qualitatively explain the observed phenomena.