← Back to Patent Explorer
US4151112A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Titanium trichloride catalyst complex and process for the production thereof

Assignee: ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Co
•
Filing: 1977-06-30
•
Granted: 1979-04-24
•
Expires: 1997-06-30
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract A titanium trichloride catalyst complex is produced by reducing titanium tetrachloride with an organo-metal compound and then activating the resulting reduced solids by treatment with a chlorinated hydrocarbon and titanium tetrachloride in the presence of a Lewis base complexing agent. The employment of the chlorinated hydrocarbon and titanium tetrachloride in the presence of the Lewis base complexing agent unexpectedly produces a synergistic effect whereby activating conditions, e.g., temperature, time and TiCl4 concentration can be employed resulting in a titanium trichloride complex having superior alpha-olefin polymerization properties as compared to titanium trichloride catalyst complexes obtained by treatment under the same conditions in the absence of either titanium tetrachloride or chlorinated hydrocarbon. Moreover, unexpectedly high yields of activated catalyst can be recovered without loss of activity.

Inventors

  • 👤 Harry J. Wristers

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-25 23:22
CPC Classifications
C; C08; C08F; C08F10/00

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 25
Claim 1
Independent Claim 244 words
A process for producing a titanium trichloride catalyst complex having superior polymerization properties in the polymerization of alpha-olefins comprising: (a) in a reduction step, contacting titanium tetrachloride with an organo metal compound of the formula R n AlX 3-n , wherein R is a group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms selected from alkyl or aryl, X is a halogen and n is a numeral within the range of 1≦n≦3 at about -50° to about 100° C. in an inert diluent to obtain a reduced solids product; (b) in an activation step, contacting the reduced solids of (a) with a chlorinated hydrocarbon and titanium tetrachloride in the presence of a Lewis base complexing agent, said chlorinated hydrocarbon, titanium tetrachloride and Lewis base complexing agent, respectively, being present in amounts of about 0.1 to about 10 mols chlorinated hydrocarbon, about 0.1 to about 2.0 mols titanium tetrachloride and about 0.1 to about 2.0 mols Lewis base complexing agent per one mol of titanium trichloride in such reduced solids of (a), and said titanium tetrachloride being in a concentration of about 2 to about 15 volume percent at an elevated temperature within the range of from about 50° C. to about 150° C. for about 5 minutes to about 10 hours until a crystal conversion of the reduced solids product of (a) is obtained; and (c) in a recovery step, recovering the resulting activated reduced solids product as said titanium trichloride catalyst complex in high yield.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 244 words
A process for producing a titanium trichloride catalyst complex having superior polymerization properties in the polymerization of alpha-olefins comprising: (a) in a reduction step, contacting titanium tetrachloride with an organo metal compound of the formula R n AlX 3-n , wherein R is a group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms selected from alkyl or aryl, X is a halogen and n is a numeral within the range of 1≦n≦3 at about -50° to about 100° C. in an inert diluent to obtain a reduced solids product; (b) in an activation step, contacting the reduced solids of (a) with a chlorinated hydrocarbon and titanium tetrachloride in the presence of a Lewis base complexing agent, said chlorinated hydrocarbon, titanium tetrachloride and Lewis base complexing agent, respectively, being present in amounts of about 0.1 to about 10 mols chlorinated hydrocarbon, about 0.1 to about 2.0 mols titanium tetrachloride and about 0.1 to about 2.0 mols Lewis base complexing agent per one mol of titanium trichloride in such reduced solids of (a), and said titanium tetrachloride being in a concentration of about 2 to about 15 volume percent at an elevated temperature within the range of from about 50° C. to about 150° C. for about 5 minutes to about 10 hours until a crystal conversion of the reduced solids product of (a) is obtained; and (c) in a recovery step, recovering the resulting activated reduced solids product as said titanium trichloride catalyst complex in high yield.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 71 words
The process of claim 1 wherein said activation step (b) is carried out under conditions of elevated temperature, time and titanium tetrachloride concentration such that the recovered titanium trichloride catalyst complex of (c) has alpha-olefin polymerization properties superior to titanium trichloride catalyst complexes obtained by treating the reduced solids of (a) under the same conditions of elevated temperature and time in the absence of said titanium tetrachloride or said chlorinated hydrocarbon.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 67 words
The process of claim 1 wherein said activation step (b) is carried out under conditions of elevated temperature, time and titanium tetrachloride concentration such that the activated reduced solids recovered in step (c) is greater than the amount of titanium trichloride catalyst complexes obtained by treating the reduced solids of (a) under the same conditions of elevated temperature and time in the absence of said titanium tetrachloride.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 33 words
The process of claim 1 wherein the chlorinated hydrocarbon is selected from chlorinated saturated hydrocarbons, chlorinated unsaturated hydrocarbons or mixtures thereof, said chlorinated hydrocarbons having from 1 to 8 carbon atoms per molecule.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 21 words
The process of claim 4 wherein the chlorinated hydrocarbon is selected from chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons, chlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons or mixtures thereof.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 16 words
The process of claim 5 wherein said chlorinated hydrocarbon is one having a stable chlorine-carbon bond.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 110 words
The process of claim 6 wherein said activation step (b) is carried out under conditions of elevated temperature, time and titanium tetrachloride concentration such that the resulting titanium trichloride catalyst complex recovered in step (c) is greater than titanium trichloride catalyst complexes obtained by treating the reduced solids of (a) under the same conditions of elevated temperature and time in the absence of said titanium tetrachloride, said titanium trichloride catalyst complex recovered from step (c) having alpha-olefin polymerization properties superior to said titanium trichloride catalyst complexes obtained by treating the reduced solids of (a) under the same conditions of elevated temperature and time in the absence of said titanium tetrachloride.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 32 words
The process of claim 1 wherein said Lewis base complexing agent is a compound selected from the group consisting of ethers, thioethers, thiols, organophosphorus compounds, organonitrogen compounds, ketones, esters and mixtures thereof.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 14 words
The process of claim 8 wherein said Lewis base complexing agent is an ether.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 21 words
The process of claim 1 wherein R is an alkyl group having 2 to 6 carbon atoms and X is chlorine.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 32 words
The process of claim 1 wherein, in said activation step (b), the reduced solids of (a) is contacted with a mixture of said chlorinated hydrocarbon, titanium tetrachloride and Lewis base complexing agent.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 11 words
The process of claim 1 wherein said chlorinated hydrocarbon is hexachloroethane.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 42 words
The process of claim 12 wherein, in said reduction step (b), said Lewis base complexing agent is an ether selected from the group consisting of n-butyl ether, p-methyl anisole, di-iso-pentyl ether, di-n-pentyl ether, di-n-hexyl ether, anisole, propyl phenyl ether, and mixtures thereof.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 51 words
The process of claim 13 wherein said hexachloroethane and said ether compound are respectively present in an amount of about 0.5 to about 1.0 mol ether and an amount of from about 0.7 to about 2.0 mol hexachloroethane, respectively, per one mol of titanium trichloride in said reduced solids of (a).
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 28 words
The process of claim 14 wherein said activation step is carried out at an elevated temperature within the range of from about 60° C. to about 85° C.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 12 words
The titanium trichloride catalyst complex produced by the process of claim 1.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 12 words
The titanium trichloride catalyst complex produced by the process of claim 2.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 12 words
The titanium trichloride catalyst complex produced by the process of claim 3.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 12 words
The titanium trichloride catalyst complex produced by the process of claim 4.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 12 words
The titanium trichloride catalyst complex produced by the process of claim 6.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 12 words
The titanium trichloride catalyst complex produced by the process of claim 12.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim 12 words
The titanium trichloride catalyst complex produced by the process of claim 13.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim 12 words
The titanium trichloride catalyst complex produced by the process of claim 14.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim 12 words
The titanium trichloride catalyst complex produced by the process of claim 15.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US3354139A Cited
US3094568A Cited
US3365434A Cited
US3549717A Cited
US3769233A Cited
GB1391068A Cited
US4062804A Cited
US4064069A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1982-04-23 1982-10-23 1983-04-24 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1986-04-23 1986-10-23 1987-04-24 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1990-04-23 1990-10-23 1991-04-24 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag