Titanium trichloride catalyst component and the process for the production thereof

Claim 1

A non-friable, Ziegler-type TiCl 3 catalyst composition obtained by contacting a reduced solid TiCl 3 product with an amount of a mixture of propylene and linear C 8 -C 18 alpha-olefin under polymerization conditions to obtain a reduced solid TiCl 3 product containing about 5 to 35 weight percent of prepolymerized copolymer of propylene and linear C 8 -C 18 alpha-olefin based on the weight of TiCl 3 , wherein the ratio of the infrared spectrum of said copolymer at 720 cm -1 : the infrared spectrum of said copolymer at 975 cm -1 is in the range of 0.04 to 0.20.

Claim 22

The method of preparing a non-friable, highly active Ziegler-type TiCl 3 catalyst composition comprising: (a) contacting TiCl 4 with an organoaluminum compound at a temperature in the range of about -50° C. to about 30° C. to produce a TiCl 3 reduced solid product, (b) contacting the reduced solid TiCl 3 product with an amount of a mixture of propylene and linear C 8 -C 18 alpha-olefin under polymerization conditions to obtain a reduced TiCl 3 solid product containing about 5 to 35 weight percent of prepolymerized copolymer of propylene and linear C 8 -C 18 alpha-olefin based on the weight of TiCl 3 , wherein the ratio of the infrared spectrum of said copolymer at 720 cm -1 : to the infrared spectrum spectrum of said copolymer at 975 cm -1 is in the range of 0.04 to 0.20, and (c) treating said prepolymerized reduced solid with one of (a) a chlorinated hydrocarbon having at least 2 carbon atoms and a Lewis base complexing agent or (b) TiCl 4 and a Lewis base complexing agent to convert the prepolymerized TiCl 3 reduced solid to a substantially non-friable highly active, crystalline prepolymerized TiCl 3 composition.

Claim 23

The method of preparing a non-friable, highly active Ziegler-type TiCl 3 catalyst composition comprising: (a) contacting TiCl 4 with an organoaluminum compound at a temperature in the range of about -50° C. to about 30° C. to produce a TiCl 3 reduced solid product, (b) contacting the reduced solid TiCl 3 product with an amount of a mixture of propylene and linear C 8 -C 18 alpha-olefin under polymerization conditions to obtain a reduced TiCl 3 solid product containing about 5 to 35 weight percent of prepolymerized copolymer of propylene and linear C 8 -C 18 alpha-olefin based on the weight of TiCl 3 , wherein the ratio of the infrared spectrum of said copolymer at 720 cm -1 : to the infrared spectrum spectrum of said copolymer at 975 cm -1 is in the range of 0.04 to 0.20, and (c) treating said prepolymerized reduced solid with one of (a) a chlorinated hydrocarbon having at least 2 carbon atoms and a Lewis base complexing agent or (b) TiCl 4 and a Lewis base complexing agent to convert the prepolymerized TiCl 3 reduced solid to a substantially non-friable highly active, crystalline prepolymerized TiCl 3 composition.