Ethylene polymers having both ends modified and processes for the production thereof

Abstract: Polymers of ethylene having functional groups introduced at both ends of the polymer, which are useful as macromonomers for polycondensation, comprise a recurring unit represented by the general formula -( - CH 2 · CH 2 -) - and have a functional group bonded to both end carbon atoms of the polymer and a number average molecular weight of 300 to 300,000, the functional group being a group wherein X is -OH, -OR 1 , a halogen atom or -SO 3 R 2 , R 1 is a hydrocarbon group of 1 to 5 carbon atoms and R 2 is a halogen atom or a substituted or non-substituted hydrocarbon group of 1 to 20 carbon atoms.

Description: This invention relates to ethylene polymers each having carbonyl groups at both ends of the polymer, and a process for their production. An ethylene polymer having a functional group introduced at one end of the polymer obtained by living anion polymerization of ethylene is known. A method comprising polymerizing propylene using a polymerization catalyst consisting of a vanadium chelate compound and a dialkylaluminum halide and modifying the end of the resulting propylene polymer with a functional group is known, but only one end of the polymer can be modified by the prior art method. DD-A-241 603 discloses a process for producing polydienes having functional end groups such as -COOH with the help of a dilithio compound as initiator. If functional groups could be introduced at both ends of polymers of olefins such as ethylene and propylene, many applications of such polymers can be envisaged for use of such polymers, e.g. macromonomers produced by polycondensation. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ethylene polymer having functional groups introduced at both ends of the polymer. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a process for the production of an ethylene polymer at both ends of which carbonyl groups are introduced. These objects can be attained by an ethylene polymer comprising a recurring unit represented by the general formula - ( -CH 2 · CH 2 -) - and having functional groups bonded to both the ends of the polymer and a number average molecular weight of 300 to 500,000, the functional groups being group wherein X is -OH, -OR 1 , a halogen atom or -SO 3 R 2 , R 1 is a hydrocarbon group of 1 to 5 carbon atoms and R 2 is a halogen-substituted or non-substituted hydrocarbon group of 1 to 20 carbon atoms. The inventors of the present invention have made various efforts to produce an olefin polymer having functional groups bonded at both ends of the polymer and have found that an ethylene polymer having carbonyl groups introduced at both ends may be obtained by polymerizing ethylene using a polymerization initiator consisting of a reaction product of an ω,ω'-diolefin compound and an organic lithium compound and a specified amine compound followed by reaction with carbon dioxide. Accordingly, the present invention provides an ethylene polymer comprising recurring units of -( - CH 2 · CH 2 -) - and having a group bonded at both ends thereof and a number average molecular weight to 300 to 300,000, wherein X represents -OH, -OR 1 , a halogen atom or -SO 3 R 2 , R 1 represents a hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 5 carbon atoms and R 2 represents a halogen atom- substituted or non-substituted hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a process for the production of the ethylene polymer as described above, which comprises polymerizing ethylene in the presence of a dilithio compound formed by the reaction of a diolefin compound (I) represented by the general formula H 2 C=CR 3 -R 4 -CR 3 =CH 2 wherein R 3 represents a hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 10 carbon atoms and R 4 represents a divalent hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 20 carbon atoms with (II) an organolithium compound, and (III) a diamine compound represented by the general formula R 2 6 N-R 7 -NR 2 6 wherein R 6 represents a hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 5 carbon atoms and R 7 represents a divalent hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 10 carbon atoms, then reacting with carbon dioxide and with a proton donor or sulfonyl halide represented by the general formula ZSO 3 R 2 wherein Z represents a halogen atom and R 2 has the same meaning as described above, and a process for the production of the ethylene polymer as described above, which comprises polymerizing ethylene in the presence of a dilithio compound formed by the reaction of a diolefin compound (I) represented by the general formula H 2 C=CR 3 -R 4 -CR 3 =CH 2 wherein R 3 represents a hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 10 carbon atoms and R 4 represents a divalent hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 20 carbon atoms with (II) an organolithium compound, and (III) a diamine compound represented by the general formula R 2 6 N-R 7 -NR 2 6 wherein R 6 represents a hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 5 carbon atoms and R 7 represents a divalent hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 10 carbon atoms, then reacting with carbon dioxide, then with a proton donor and then with an alcohol represented by the general formula R 1 OH wherein R 1 have the same meaning, or a thionyl halide, in particular, X being -OR 1 or a halogen atom. In particular, the ethylene polymer of the present invention can be represented above, in which X is -OH, -OR 1 , a halogen atom or -SO 3 R 2 . R 1 in -OR 1 is a hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 5 carbon atoms, preferably an alkyl group, more preferably methyl or ethyl group. The halogen atom includes chlorine, bromine, fluorine and iodine. R 2 in -SO 3 R 2 is a hydrocarbon atom containing 1 to 20 carbon atoms, specifically an alkyl group, alkenyl group, cycloalkyl group, aryl group or aralkyl group each containing 1 to 20 carbon atoms. Above all, aryl groups and aralkyl groups are preferable and R 2 can be combined with a halogen atom such as chlorine, bromine, iodine or fluorine. Examples of -SO 3 R are as follows: X is preferably -OH, -OCH 3 , -OC 2 H 5 , -Cl or more preferably -OH or -OCH 3 . The ethylene polymer of the present invention has a number average molecular weight (Mn) of 300 to 300,000, preferably 600 to 150,000. Preparation of Ethylene Polymers (1) Reaction of Diolefin Compound (I) with Organolithium Compound The diolefin compound is represented by the general formula, H 2 C=CR 3 -R 4 -CR 3 =CH 2 . In this formula, R 3 is a hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 10 carbon atoms, illustrative of which are alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl and aralkyl groups, preferably alkyl and aryl groups. Examples are alkyl groups such as methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl and hexyl groups, and aryl groups such as phenyl, tolyl and xylyl groups. R 4 is a divalent hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 20 carbon atoms, for example substituents such as ― ( - CH 2 -) m ― wherein m = 1 to 12 and wherein r = 1 to 6. Examples of the compound (I) are 2,5-dimethyl-1,5-hexadiene, 2,5-diphenyl-1,5-hexadiene, 2,6-diphenyl-1,6-heptadiene, 2,7-diphenyl-1,7-octadiene, 2,7-dimethyl-1,7-octadiene, 1,2-bis[4-(1-phenylvinyl)phenyl]ethane, 1,4-bis[4 - (1-phenylvinyl)phenyl]butane, 1,2-bis(isopropenyl-4-phenyl)ethane and 1,2-bis(isopropenyl-4-phenyl)butane. The organolithium compound (II) is a compound represented by the general formula R 5 Li, in which R 5 is a hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 10 carbon atoms, preferably an alkyl group or aryl group, more preferably an alkyl group. As the compound (II), for example, there may be used methyllithium, ethyllithium, n-propyllithium, i-propyllithium. n-butyllithium, i-butyllithium, s-butyllithium, t-butyllithium, n-pentyllithium and hexyllithium. The reaction of the compound (I) and the compound (II) is preferably carried out in the presence of an organic solvent. As the organic solvent, there are preferably used hydrocarbons, in particular, aliphatic hydrocarbons such as heptane, hexane and the like and aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene and the like. Two or more organic solvents can be used. The compound (I) and the compound (II) are used in a (II)/(I) molar ratio of 0.1 to 30, preferably 1 to 5. Both the compounds are reacted at -50 °C to +100 °C, preferably 0 to 50 °C for 1 hour to 1 month, preferably 1 day to 10 days. (2) Polymerization of Ethylene The polymerization of ethylene is carried out in the presence of a dilithio compound formed by the reaction of the compounds (I) and (II) as described in the above described (1) and a diamine compound (III). The diamine compound (III) is represented by the general formula, R 2 6 N-R 7 -NR 2 6 wherein R 6 is a hydrocarbon group of 1 to 5 carbon atoms, preferably alkyl group, illustrative of which are methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, i-propyl, n-butyl, i-butyl, s-butyl, t-butyl, n-pentyl and the like, the ,ethyl group being particularly preferable, and R 7 is a divalent hydrocarbon group of 1 to 10 carbon atoms, preferably a divalent hydrocarbon group represented by the general formula -C t H 2t - wherein t = 1 to 10. Examples of the compound (III) are tetramethylethylenediamine, tetramethylpropylenediamine, tetramethyldiaminobutane, tetramethyldiaminopentane, tetramethyldiaminohexane, tetraethylenediamine and the like. The polymerization of ethylene is preferably carried out in the presence of a solvent such as a hydrocarbon, more preferably an aromatic hydrocarbon such as benzene, toluene or xylene. The ratio of the dilithio compound and diamine compound (III) used is 0.1 to 20 moles, preferably 0.5 to 4 moles of the diamine compound (III) to 1 mole of the diolefin compound (I). The polymerization of ethylene is generally carried out at a temperature of -100 °C to +100 °C, preferably -30 °C to +30 °C for 1 hour to 1 month, preferably 10 hours to 1 week. (3) Reaction with carbon dioxide The reaction of the ethylene polymer formed in the above described (2) with carbon dioxide is generally carried out by feeding carbon dioxide to the reaction system of the above described (2) and bringing it into contact with the polymer. The carbon dioxide is present in a proportion of 0.1 to 10.000 moles, preferably 2 to 100 moles to 1 mole of the diolefin compound (I). The carbon dioxide can be fed in the form of a mixture containing carbon dioxide. The reaction is generally carried out by feeding carbon dioxide at a relatively low temperature, i.e. -150 °C to +50 °C, preferably -100 °C to 0 °C and then contacting them at a temperature of -50 °C to +100 °C, preferably 0 to 50 °C for 0.1 to 100 hours, preferably 1 to 10 hours, for example, by employing stirring means. (4) Reaction with proton donor or sulfonyl halide As the proton donor, there can be used water, alcohols, inorganic acids, etc. The alcohols include methanol, ethanol, propanol and the like and the inorganic acids include hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, and the like. The sulfonyl halide is represented by the general formula, ZSO 3 R 2 in which Z is a halogen atom such as chlorine, bromine, fluorine or iodine. R 2 in this formula have the same meaning as R 2 in a case where the substituent X of the foregoing ethylene polymer is -SO 3 R 2 . Therefore, as an example of the sulfonyl halide is such a compound in which Z, i.e. a halogen atom is bonded to the above described -SO 3 R 2 . The reaction with the proton donor or sulfonyl halide is generally carried out at -100 °C to +200 °C, preferably 0 to 150 °C for 1 minute to 10 hours, preferably 0.1 to 2 hours. The ethylene polymer of the present invention, in which groups are introduced at both ends, is obtained by reaction with the proton donor and that having groups introduced into both ends is obtained by reaction with the sulfonyl halide. (5) Reaction with alcohol or thionyl halide The alcohol to be used is represented by the general formula, R 1 OH in which R 1 has the same meaning as described above. Thus, the particularly preferred alcohol is methanol or ethanol. As the thionyl halide there can be used SOCl 2 , SO 2 Cl 2 , SOBr 2 , SOI 2 , SO 2 Br 2 , SO 2 I 2 and the like. The reaction with the alcohol or thionyl halide is generally carried out at -50 °C to +200 °C, preferably 50 to 150 °C for 1 minute to 1 week, preferably 1 hour to 1 day. The alcohol can either be used individually or in the form of an alcohol complex such as methanol · BF 3 complex. The ethylene polymers of the present invention, in which groups and groups (X is a halogen atom) are respectively introduced at both the ends thereof, can be produced by reacting the product, obtained by reaction with the proton donor in the above described (4), respectively with the alcohol and with the thionyl halide. It can be assumed that the polymer of the present invention, obtained in this way, has the following microstructure containing the skeleton of the diolefin compound and the substituent R 5 of the organolithium compound used in the process, due to the adoption of the above described production process. In the above described formula, A is represented as follows, and (m + n) is an integer corresponding to the number average molecular weight: According to the process of the present invention, it is made possible to produce an ethylene polymer both of whose ends are modified with a functional group having at least a carbonyl group. The ethylene polymer of the present invention, having functional groups at both ends, can be used widely as a macromonomer for polycondensation. The following examples are given in order to illustrate the present invention in detail: Example 1 3 millimoles of 2,7-di(4-toluyl)-1,7-octadiene was dissolved in 25 ml of a mixed solution of similar volumes of heptane and toluene. This solution was added to 9 millimoles of s-butyllithium and stirrd at room temperature for 5 days. A dilithio compound was precipitated from the reaction solution, filtered and washed with 25 ml of heptane. 200 ml of dried toluene was added to a reaction vessel of 500 ml, adequately replaced by nitrogen, to which 7 millimoles of tetramethylethylenediamine was further added. After cooling to 0 °C, the above described dilithio compound was added thereto, to which ethylene was added with agitation. While supplementing ethylene so as to maintain the pressure of ethylene at 2 atm inside the reaction system, the mixture was stirred for 24 hours and an ethylene polymer was synthesized. After exhausting the ethylene retained in the system, the mixture was cooled to -78 °C, into which dried carbon dioxide was introduced. While maintaining the internal pressure of carbon dioxide at 2 atm, the temperature was raised to room temperature, followed by stirring for 5 hours. The product was poured in 10 % HCl and the resulting precipitate was separated by filtration. The precipitate was extracted with hot toluene for 2 days, the toluene was cooled, the resulting product was filtered and dried, thus obtaining a polymer with a yield of 1.6 g and a number average molecular weight (Mn) of 1.5 x 10 3 , measured by GPC. When this polymer was subjected to IR spectrum analysis, a peak due to carboxylic acid was observed at 1700 cm -1 . When the polymer was subjected to measurement of the proton NMR, there was found a broad peak due to the hydrogen of the carboxylic acid near 11 ppm. An Mn of 1.7 x 10 3 was obtained from the intensity ratio of the peak of 1.3 ppm due to the ethylene polymer and the peak of 2.3 ppm due to the hydrogen of the methylene group adjacent to the carboxylic acid. This value was substantially in agreement with that obtained by GPC. Thus, it was concluded from these results that an ethylene polymer having carboxylic groups at both ends thereof could be synthesized. Example 2 1.5 g of the ethylene polymer having carboxylic groups at both the ends thereof, obtained in Example 1, was dissolved in 200 ml of xylene at 120 °C, to which 8.3 ml of boron trifluoride-methanol complex was added. The resulting mixture was reacted by heating with refluxing for 6 hours, after which the solvent was removed under reduced pressure to obtain a product. When this product was subjected to measurement of IR spectrum, there were found peaks due to the ester linkage near 1740 cm -1 and 1150 cm -1 . Thus, it was concluded from these results that the ethylene polymer carboxylated at both ends thereof was converted into an ethylene polymer methyl-esterified at both ends thereof. Example 3 Example 1 was repeated except changing the polymerization time of ethylene in 72 hours to synthesize an ethylene polymer of the present invention. When the resulting polymer was subjected to measurement of the IR spectrum there was observed a peak due to the carboxylic acid at 1700 cm -1 . The number average molecular weight, measured from the proton NMR, was 5.1 x 10 3 .

Claims: An ethylene polymer comprising recurring units of -( - CH 2 · CH 2 -) - and having a group bonded directly to both end carbon atoms thereof and a number average molecular weight of 300 to 300,000, wherein X represents -OH, -OR 1 , a halogen atom or -SO 3 R 2 , R 1 represents a hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 5 carbon atoms and R 2 represents a halogen atom- substituted or non-substituted hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 20 carbon atoms. A process for the production of the ethylene polymer as claimed in Claim 1, which comprises polymerizing ethylene in the presence of a dilithio compound formed by the reaction of (I) a diolefin compound represented by the general formula H 2 C=CR 3 -R 4 -CR 3 =CH 2 wherein R 3 represents a hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 10 carbon atoms and R 4 represents a divalent hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 20 carbon atoms with (II) an organolithium compound, and (III) a diamine compound represented by the general formula R 2 6 N-R 7 -NR 2 6 wherein R 6 represents a hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 5 carbon atoms and R 7 represents a divalent hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 10 carbon atoms, then reacting with carbon dioxide and with a proton donor or sulfonyl halide represented by the general formula ZSO 3 R 2 wherein Z represents a halogen atom and R 2 have the same meaning as described above. A process for the production of the ethylene polymer as claimed in Claim 1, which comprises polymerizing ethylene in the presence of a dilithio compound formed by the reaction of (I) a diolefin compound represented by the general formula H 2 C=CR 3 -R 4 -CR 3 =CH 2 wherein R 3 represents a hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 10 carbon atoms and R 4 represents a divalent hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 20 carbon atoms with (II) an organolithium compound, and (III) a diamine compound represented by the general formula R 2 6 N-R 7 -NR 2 6 wherein R 6 represents a hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 5 carbon atoms and R 7 represents a divalent hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 10 carbon atoms, then reacting with carbon dioxide, then with a proton donor and then with an alcohol represented by the general formula R 1 OH wherein R 1 is a hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 5 carbon atoms or with a thionyl halide. A process as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein the diolefin compound (I) is selected from 2,5-dimethyl-1,5-hexadiene, 2,5-diphenyl-1,5-hexadiene, 2,6-diphenyl-1,6-heptadiene, 2,7-diphenyl-1,7-octadiene, 2,7-dimethyl-1,7-octadiene, 1,2-bis[4-(1-phenylvinyl)phenyl]ethane, 1,4-bis[4-(1-phenylvinyl)phenyl]butane, 1,2-bis-(isopropenyl-4-phenyl)ethane, 1,2-bis-(isopropenyl-4-phenyl)butane and mixtures thereof. A process as claimed in any one of Claims 2 to 4 wherein the organolithium compound (II) is selected from methyllithium, ethyllithium, n-propyllithium, i-propyllithium, n-butyllithium, i-butyllithium, s-butyllithium, t-butyllithium, n-pentyllithium, hexyllithium and mixtures thereof. A process as claimed in any one of Claims 2 to 5 wherein the diolefin compound (I) and the organolithium compound (II) are used in a proportion of (II)/(I) (molar ratio) of 0.1 to 30. A process as claimed in any one of Claims 2 to 6 wherein the diamine compound (III) is selected from tetramethylethylenediamine, tetramethylpropylenediamine, tetramethyldiaminobutane, tetramethyldiaminopentane, tetramethyldiaminohexane, tetraethylenediamine and mixtures thereof. A process as claimed in any one of Claims 2 to 7 wherein the dilithio compound and the diamine compound are used to give a proportion of 0.1 to 20 moles of the diamine compound (III) to 1 mole of the diolefin compound (I) used in the production of the dilithio compound. A process as claimed in any one of Claims 2 to 8 wherein the carbon dioxide is used in a proportion of 0.1 to 10,000 moles to 1 mole of the diolefin compound (I). A process as claimed in any one of Claims 2 to 9 wherein the proton donor is selected from water, alcohols, inorganic acids and mixtures thereof. A process as claimed in any one of Claims 3 to 10 wherein the alcohol is selected from methanol, ethanol and mixtures thereof. A process as claimed in any one of Claims 3 to 11 wherein the thionyl halide is selected from SOCl 2 , SO 2 Cl 2 , SOBr 2 , SOI 2 , SO 2 Br 2 , SO 2 I 2 and mixtures thereof.

Inventors: FURUHASHI HIROYUKI, KOYAMA NAOMI, UEKI SATOSHI, FURUHASHI, HIROYUKI, KOYAMA, NAOMI, UEKI, SATOSHI, Furuhashi, Hiroyuki, c/o Corp. Research &amp; Dev. Lab, Koyama, Naomi, c/o Corp. Research &amp; Dev. Lab, Ueki, Satoshi, c/o Corp. Research &amp; Dev. Lab
Applicants: TONEN CORP, TONEN CORPORATION
Application year: 1991
Main classification: C08F8
IPC codes: C08F8, C08F210