Polymerization of allylbenzene with metallocene catalysts

Homopolymerization of allylbenzene was carried out with various metallocene /methylaluminoxane (MAO) catalysts. Different polymerization behavior was o bserved depending upon the catalysts empolyed. rac-Et(Ind)(2)ZrCl2 and rac- Me2Si(Ind)(2)ZrCl2 gave semicrystalline polyallylbenzenes while i-Pr(CpFlu) ZrCl2 and CpTiCl3 did not give any polymeric product, The Cp2ZrCl2 gave amo rphous polyallylbenzene with low molecular weight. The effect of temperatur e on the polymerization was investigated with a constant Al/Zr ratio. The t emperature showing maximum catalyst activity is higher for the ansa metallo cene catalysts than Cp2ZrCl2 catalyst. The IR and NMR spectra indicated tha t the polyallylbenzene consisted of allylbenzene repeating unit and no isom erization occurred.