Powder catalyst composition and process for polymerizing olefins with the use thereof

Claim 2

The powder catalyst composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inorganic oxide for the Component (A) is selected from the group consisting of SiO₂, Al₂O₃ and ZrO₂, as its main component.

Claim 3

The powder catalyst composition as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the inorganic oxide consists essentially of SiO₂.

Claim 4

The powder catalyst composition as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the compound of a transition metal as the Sub-component (i) is represented by the formula: Q a (C₅H 5-a-b R¹ b ) (C₅H 5-a ₋ c R² c )MeXY, or A d (C₅H 5-d-e R³ e )(R⁴ 2-d J)MeXY, wherein (C₅H 5-a-b R¹ b ) (C₅H 5-a-c R² c ) and (C₅H 5-d-e R³ e ), respectively, represent a conjugated five-membered ring ligand which coordinates with a metal Me, in which R¹, R² and R³ represent, respectively, a monovalent group selected from the group consisting of a hydrocarbyl group having 1-20 carbon atoms, a halogen atom, an alkoxy group having 1-12 carbon atoms, a silicon-containing hydrocarbyl group having 1-24 carbon atoms, a phosphorus-containing hydrocarbyl group having 1-18 carbon atoms, a nitrogen-containing hydrocarbyl group having 1-18 carbon atoms and a boron-containing hydrocarbyl group having 1-18 carbon atoms, R⁴ represents a monovalent group selected from the group consisting of a hydrocarbyl group having 1-20 carbon atoms, a silicon-containing hydrocarbyl group having 1-24 carbon atoms and an oxygen-containing hydrocarbyl group having 1-20 carbon atoms, wherein R¹ and R² may be the same or different, or R¹s, if present in plurality, may be the same or different or may or may not be bonded at their free terminus, and R² (or R³), if present in plurality, may be the same or different or may or may not be bonded together at their free terminus; Q represents a divalent bridge group which crosslinks the two conjugated five-membered ring ligands indicated; A represents a divalent bridge group which crosslinks the groups indicated, viz. (C₅H 5-d-e R³ e ) and (R⁴ 2-d J), in which J represents a nitrogen or phosphorus atom which bonds to Me; Me represents a transition metal of the IVB group in the Periodic Table; X and Y, which may be the same or different, each represents a monovalent group consisting of a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a hydrocarbyl group having 1-20 atoms, an alkoxy group having 1-20 carbon atoms, an amino group which may or may not be substituted with up to two hydrocarbyl group having 1-20 carbon atoms, a phosphorus-containing hydrocarbyl group having 1-20 carbon atoms and a silicon-containing hydrocarbyl group having 1-20 carbon atoms, respectively; a and d denote 0 or 1; b and c denote integers defined as 0 ≦ b ≦ 5 and 0 ≦ c ≦ 5, respectively, when a denotes 0, and b and c denote integers defined as 0 ≦ b ≦ 4 and 0 ≦ c ≦ 4, respectively, when a denotes 1; e denotes an integer defined as 0 ≦ e ≦ 5 when d denotes 0 and an integer defined as 0 ≦ e ≦ 4 when d denotes 1.

Claim 5

The powder catalyst composition as claimed in claim 4, wherein Sub-component (i) is a compound of the formula: Q a (C₅H 5-a-b R¹ b )(C₅H 5-a-c R² c )MeXY where a is 1, Q is a bridge selected from the group consisting of an alkylene group having up to 3 carbon atoms in its shortest chain and a silylene group having up to 3 silicon atom in its shortest chain, Me is selected from the group consisting of Ti, Zr and Hf, (C₆H 5-a-b R¹ b ) and (C₅H 5-a-c R² c ) are selected from the group consisting of a cyclopentadienyl group, an indenyl group, a tetrahydroindenyl group, a fluorenyl group and those groups substituted with at least one lower alkyl group, and each of X and Y is selected from the group consisting of a halogen atom and a hydrocarbyl group of 1 to 4 carbon atoms.

Claim 6

The powder catalyst component as claimed in claim 4, wherein Sub-component (i) is a compound of the formula: Q a (C₅H 5-a-b R¹ b )(C₅H 5-a-c R² c )MeXY where a is 0, Me is selected from the group consisting of Ti, Zr and Hf, (C₆H 5-a-b R¹ b ) and (C₅H 5-a-c R² c ) are selected from the group consisting of a cyclopentadienyl group, an indenyl group, a tetrahydroindenyl group, a fluorenyl group and those groups substituted with at least one lower alkyl group, and each of X and Y is selected from the group consisting of a halogen atom and a hydrocarbyl group of 1 to 4 carbon atoms.

Claim 7

The powder catalyst component as claimed in claim 4, wherein the Sub-component (i) is a compound of the formula: A d (C₅H 5-d-e R³ e )(R⁴ 2-d J) MeXY where d is 1, R⁴ is a monovalent hydrocarbyl group having 1 to 12 carbon atoms; J is a nitrogen or a phosphorus atom; Me is selected from the group consisting of Ti, Zr and Hf; (C₅H 5-d-e R³ e ) is selected from the group consisting of a cyclopentadienyl group, an indenyl group, a tetrahydroindenyl group, a fluorenyl group and those groups substituted with at least one lower alkyl group; A is a bridge selected from the group consisting of an alkylene group having up to 3 carbon atoms in its shortest chain and a silylene group having up to 3 silicon atom in its shortest chain; and each of X and Y is selected from the group consisting of a halogen atom and a hydrocarbyl group of 1 to 4 carbon atoms.

Claim 8

The powder catalyst composition as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the Sub-component (ii) is an alumoxane.

Claim 9

The powder catalyst composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the Sub-component (ii) is a combination of a Lewis acid with an alumoxane or a trialkylaluminum.

Claim 10

The powder catalyst composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the Sub-component (ii) is a combination of an ionic compound which can convert the Sub-component (i) upon reaction therewith into a cation with an alumoxane or a trialkylaluminum.

Claim 11

The powder catalyst composition as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, which has undergone preliminary polymerization by means of gas-phase polymerization wherein the composition is contacted with an olefin at a temperature of -20 to 70°C thereby to polymerize the olefin in an amount of 0.5 to 100 g polyolefin per gram of the powder catalyst composition from which the amount of the hydrocarbon for the Component (B) is subtracted.

Claim 12

A process for polymerizing olefins which comprises contacting an olefin with the powder catalyst composition as claimed in claim 1 in the presence of an organoaluminum compound thereby to polymerize the olefin.

Claim 13

The process for polymerizing olefins as claimed in claim 12 wherein the polymerization is gas-phase polymerization.

Claim 14

The process for polymerizing olefins as claimed in claim 12 or 13, wherein the powder catalyst composition has undergone preliminary polymerization by means of gas-phase polymerization wherein the composition is contacted with an olefin at a temperature which is lower than the level used for the process of polymerizing olefins claimed and is from -20 to 70°C thereby to polymerize the olefin in an amount of 0.5 to 100 g polyolefin per gram of the powder catalyst composition from which the amount of the hydrocarbon for the Component (B) is subtracted.