Cobaltous halide-aluminium-mercuric halide or hydrogen halide-aromatic solvent reaction product catalyst for the polymerization of olefins

Claim 1

A CATALYST FOR THE POLYMERIZATION OF ETHYLENICALLY UNSATURATED HYDROCARBONS HAVING FROM 2 TO 10 CARBON ATOMS, SAID CATALYST BEING A PRODUCT OBTAINED FROM THE INTERACTION OF A MIXTURE CONSISTING OF ALUMINUM METAL, A COBALTOUS HALIDE, A MEMBER SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF HYDROGEN HALIDES AND MERCURIC HALIDES, AND AN AROMATIC SOLVENT SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF BENZENE, ALKYLBENZENE, AND THE NUCLEAR MONOHALO SUBSTITUTED PRODUCTS THEREOF AT A TEMPERATURE BETWEEN 20* C. AND 150*C.; IN SAID MIXTURE, THE AMOUNT OF SAID ALUMINUM METAL RANGING FROM ABOUT 0.5 TO ABOUT 10 ATOMIC PROPORTIONS BASED ON ONE MOLAR PROPORTION OF SAID COBALTOUS HALIDE, THE AMOUNT OF SAID MERCURIC HALIDE RANGING FROM ABOUT 0.6 TO ABOUT 4 MOLAR PROPORTIONS BASED ON ONE MOLAR PROPORTION OF SAID COBALTOUS HALIDE, THE AMOUNT OF SAID HYDROGEN HALIDE BEING SUFFICIENT TO SUBSTANTIALLY SATURATE SAID AROMATIC SOLVENT THROUGHOUT SAID INTERACTION, AND THE AMOUNT OF SAID AROMATIC SOLVENT BEING AT LEAST 25% BY WEIGHT OF THE TOTAL REACTION MIXTURE, SAID INTERACTION BEING CONTINUED AT LEAST UNTIL THE FORMATION OF A CATALYTICALLY ACTIVE OIL WHICH IS SUBSTANTIALLY INSOLUBLE IN BENZENE AND SUBSTANTIALY SOLUBLE IN CHLOROBENZENE.