Process for producing olefin polymers

Claim 2

A process according to claim 1 wherein the liquid transition metal compound is a zirconium, hafnium or titanium compound selected from: ethylenebis(indenyl)zirconium dichloride, ethylenebis(indenyl)zirconiumdimethyl, ethylenebis(indenyl)zirconium diphenyl, ethylenebis(4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-1-indenyl)zirconium dichloride, ethylenebis(4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-1-indenyl)zirconium dimethyl, ethylenebis(4-methyl-1-indenyl)zirconium dichloride, ethylenebis(5-methyl-1-indenyl)ziconium dichloride, ethylenebis(2,3-dimethyl-1-indenyl)zirconium dichloride, ethylenebis(4,7-dimethyl-1-indenyl)zirconium dichloride, biscyclopentadienylzirconium dichloride, bis(methylcyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride, bis(1,2-dimethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride, bis(1,3-dimethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride, bis(1,2,3-trimethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride, bis(1,2,4-trimethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride, bis(1,2,4-trimethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconium dimethyl, bis(1,2,3,4-tetramethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride, bis(1,2,3,4-tetramethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconium dimethyl, bis(pentaethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride, tetrabenzylzirconium, tetraneopentylzirconium, tetraneophylzirconium, trineophylzirconium chloride, dineophylzirconium dichloride, tetraallylzirconium, dimethylsilylbis(methylcyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride, dimethylgermylbis(methylcyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride, ethylenebis(indenyl)hafnium dichloride, biscyclopentadienylhafnium dichloride, dimethylsilylbis(methylcyclopentadienyl)hafnium dichloride, biscyclopentadienyltitanium dichloride and dimethylsilylbis(methylcyclopentadienyl)titanium dichloride.

Claim 3

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the aluminoxane is an organoaluminum compound of the formulae: wherein R¹ is a methyl, ethyl, propyl or butyl group, and m is an integer of from 4 to 30.

Claim 4

A process according to any one of the preceding claims in which the olefin is an α-olefin selected from ethylene, propylene, 1-butene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, 1-hexene, 1-octene, 1-decene, 1-dodecene, 1-tetradecene, 1-hexadecene, 1-octadecene, 1-eicosene and mixtures thereof.

Claim 5

A process according to claim 4 wherein the α-olefin is copolymerized with a diene and/or a cycloolefin selected from butadiene, 1,4-hexadiene, 1,4-pentadiene, 1,7-octadiene, 1,8-nonadiene, 1,9-decadiene, cyclopropene, cyclobutene, cyclohexene, norbornene or dicyclopentadiene.

Claim 6

A process according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the polymerizations are carried out in the liquid phase using a polymerization solvent.

Claim 7

A process according to claim 6 wherein the polymerization solvent is benzene, toluene, o-xylene, m-xylene, p-xylene, ethylbenzene, butylbenzene, mesitylene, naphthalene, n-butane, isobutane, n-pentane, n-hexane, n-heptane, n-octane, n-decane, cyclopentane, methylcyclopentane, cyclohexane, cyclooctane, gasoline, kerosine, gas oil, liquefied propylene, liquefied butene-1 or a mixture of two or more thereof.

Claim 8

A process according to claim 6 or claim 7 wherein the polymerizations are carried out under an olefin pressure of from atmospheric pressure to 70 Kg/cm²G, at a polymerization temperature of -50°C +230°C and for a period of 1 to 50 hours.

Claim 9

A process according to any one of claims 6-8 wherein the concentration of the liquid transition metal compound in the liquid phase is from 10⁻¹ to 10⁻¹² mol/ℓ in terms of the transition metal and the molar ratio of the aluminoxane to the liquid transition metal compound is from from 10² to 10⁷ in terms of Aℓ the transition metal atom.