Copolymerization of Atactic Polypropene Macromonomer with Propene by an Isospecific Metallocene Catalyst

Atactic polypropene macromonomer (PPM) with a number-average polymerization degree of ca. 20 was synthesized by bis(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride−methylaluminoxane and its structure was analyzed by 1 H and 13 C NMR spectroscopies. Copolymerization of propene and PPM was conducted with isospecific rac -dimethylsilylenebis(2-methylbenz[ e ]indenyl)zirconium dichloride using methylaluminoxane as a cocatalyst. The detailed analyses of resulting copolymers by GPC, DSC, and 13 C NMR proved that PPM was copolymerized with propene to give poly(propene- co -PPM). PPM content in the copolymer was found to be controlled by the amount of PPM in feed.