SOME STUDIES ON STYRENE POLYMERIZATION USING NEW SYSTEMS PREPARED FROM COORDINATION METAL-COMPOUNDS - O)(3)(3,3'-DIMETHYL-2,2'-BIQUINOLINE)-DIPHENYLZINC WITH AND WITHOUT MAO SYSTEMS

The monovalent rhenium compounds ReBr(CO)(3)(3,3'-dimethyl-2, 2'-biqui noline) (I) and ReBr (CO)(5) (II) could be used as catalysts in styren e polymerization after activation with diphenylzinc (Ph2Zn) and methyl aluminoxane (MAO). The catalytic activity shown by the I-Ph2Zn-MAO sys tem was dependent on the molar ratio between the components and the te mperature of polymerization. Non stereoregular polystyrene (PS) was ob tained under all experimental conditions. The resulting PS gave multim odal GPC traces suggesting the presence of different species capable o f polymerizing styrene, possibly species resulting from MAO alone, I-P h2Zn and I-Ph2Zn-MAO systems.