Bis(2-arylindenyl)zirconium dichlorides activated by methylaluminoxane (MAO) produce elastomeric
polypropylene. The elastic properties of this material are proposed to arise from a stereoblock microstructure.
The silyl bridged catalysts rac- and meso-dimethylsilyl(bis(2-phenylindenyl))zirconium dichloride were prepared
and used to model the polymerization behavior of the unbridged catalysts. The meso isomer is approximately
twice as productive as the rac isomer in propylene polymerization. Additionally, blends of isotactic and atactic
polypropylene were prepared by using varying amounts of the rac and meso isomers until the IR and NMR
characteristics matched polypropylenes produced from bis(2-phenylindenyl)zirconium dichloride. These studies
suggest (1) that the rac isomer is favored in the isomerization equilibrium for the unbridged catalysts and (2)
that the larger fraction of atactic polymer in the elastomeric polypropylene is a consequence of the higher rate
of polymerization for the meso isomer.
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