Preparation of barium-alkoxide salts

Claim 1

The method which comprises polymerizing under inert conditions in a hydrocarbon solvent at a temperature of from about -90° to 100° C. a polymerizable ethylenically unsaturated monomer having an activated double bond with a catalyst in a minor effective amount sufficient to polymerize said monomer to obtain a polymer, said catalyst comprising a complex of A. a compound selected from the group consisting of and having the general formula ##STR18## where at least one R is a methyl or cyclohexyl radical and where the remaining Rs are selected from the group consisting of alkyl and cycloalkyl radicals having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms which may be the same or different, and where the mol ratio of a to b is from about 99.5:0.5 to 88:12 and ##STR19## where the Rs are as defined above, where the R's are alkyl radicals of from 2 to 6 carbon atoms which may be the same or different, where the R''s are alkyl radicals of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms which may be same or different and where R'" is a hydrocarbon radical having a molecular weight of from about 250 to 5,000, where the mol ratio of x+y to z is from about 100:0 to 88:12 and where the mol ratio of x to y is from about 1:0.3 to 1:1, said compound A containing not greater than about 0.1% by weight of nitrogen and B. a hydrocarbon lithium compound having from 2 to 200 carbon atoms and from 1 to 6 lithium atoms, the mol ratio of A to B based on barium metal and lithium metal being from about 0.60:1 to 1.1:1, said solvent being a solvent for said monomer and polymer.

Claim 2

The method which comprises polymerizing under inert conditions in a hydrocarbon solvent at a temperature of from about -90° to 100° C. a polymerizable ethylenically unsaturated monomer having an activated double bond with a catalyst in a minor effective amount sufficient to polymerize said monomer to obtain a polymer, said catalyst comprising a complex of A. a compound selected from the group consisting of and having the general formula ##STR18## where at least one R is a methyl or cyclohexyl radical and where the remaining Rs are selected from the group consisting of alkyl and cycloalkyl radicals having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms which may be the same or different, and where the mol ratio of a to b is from about 99.5:0.5 to 88:12 and ##STR19## where the Rs are as defined above, where the R's are alkyl radicals of from 2 to 6 carbon atoms which may be the same or different, where the R''s are alkyl radicals of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms which may be same or different and where R'" is a hydrocarbon radical having a molecular weight of from about 250 to 5,000, where the mol ratio of x+y to z is from about 100:0 to 88:12 and where the mol ratio of x to y is from about 1:0.3 to 1:1, said compound A containing not greater than about 0.1% by weight of nitrogen and B. a hydrocarbon lithium compound having from 2 to 200 carbon atoms and from 1 to 6 lithium atoms, the mol ratio of A to B based on barium metal and lithium metal being from about 0.60:1 to 1.1:1, said solvent being a solvent for said monomer and polymer.

Claim 3

The method which comprises polymerizing under inert conditions in a hydrocarbon solvent at a temperature of from about -20° to 60° C. a monomer selected from the group consisting of (I) butadiene-1,3 and (II) mixtures of butadiene-1,3 and up to about 30% by weight total of the mixture of styrene and/or isoprene with a catalyst in a minor effective amount sufficient to polymerize said monomer to obtain a polymer and containing a complex of A. a compound having the general formula ##STR20## where at least one R is a methyl or cyclohexyl radical, where the remaining Rs are selected from the group consisting of alkyl and cycloalkyl radicals having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms which may be the same or different, where the R's are alkyl radicals of from 2 to 6 carbon atoms which may be the same or different, where the R''s are alkyl radicals of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms which may be the same or different, where R'" is a hydrocarbon radical having a molecular weight of from about 250 to 5,000, where the mol ratio of x+y to z is from about 100:0 to 88:12 and where the mol ratio of x to y is from about 1:0.3 to 1:1, said compound A containing not greater than about 0.1% be weight of nitrogen and B. a hydrocarbon lithium compound having from 2 to 200 carbon atoms and 1 to 6 lithium atoms, the mol ratio of A to B based on barium metal and lithium metal being from about 0.60:1 to 1.1:1, said solvent being a solvent for said monomer and said polymer.

Claim 4

The method which comprises polymerizing under inert conditions in a hydrocarbon solvent at a temperature of from about -20° to 60° C. a monomer selected from the group consisting of (I) butadiene-1,3 and (II) mixtures of butadiene-1,3 and up to about 30% by weight total of the mixture of styrene and/or isoprene with a catalyst in a minor effective amount sufficient to polymerize said monomer to obtain a polymer and containing a complex of A. a compound having the general formula ##STR20## where at least one R is a methyl or cyclohexyl radical, where the remaining Rs are selected from the group consisting of alkyl and cycloalkyl radicals having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms which may be the same or different, where the R's are alkyl radicals of from 2 to 6 carbon atoms which may be the same or different, where the R''s are alkyl radicals of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms which may be the same or different, where R'" is a hydrocarbon radical having a molecular weight of from about 250 to 5,000, where the mol ratio of x+y to z is from about 100:0 to 88:12 and where the mol ratio of x to y is from about 1:0.3 to 1:1, said compound A containing not greater than about 0.1% be weight of nitrogen and B. a hydrocarbon lithium compound having from 2 to 200 carbon atoms and 1 to 6 lithium atoms, the mol ratio of A to B based on barium metal and lithium metal being from about 0.60:1 to 1.1:1, said solvent being a solvent for said monomer and said polymer.