One-pot catalytic copolymerization of unsaturated plant oils or fatty acid methyl esters with ethylene

Abstract

Until now natural fatty ester acid esters with their internal C=C-bonds could not be used as substrates for catalytic polymerization reactions. It was always necessary to convert them to terminal unsaturated fatty acid esters first. Therefore we now developed a two-catalyst system consisting of an isomerization catalyst and a Brookhart polymerization catalyst. With this system of isomerizing copolymerization (IsoCoP) it is possible to copolymerize high oleic plant oils or fatty acid methyl esters with ethylene in a one-pot reaction. The resulting polymers have molecular weights above 30 kDa and can contain more than 20 weight percent plant oils. The copolymers of fatty acid methyl esters are soluble in organic solvents. The predominant part of the copolymers from plant oils is usually soluble. The insoluble fraction is soluble after hydrolysis indicating a rare cross-linking of polyolefin chains by triglycerol units. The catalytic system is effective yielding polymers with a productivity of up to 100 kg polymer per mole catalyst and pretty robust. Plants oils need to be purified only by a simple filtration over alumina before copolymerization.

Practical applications: The possibility to copolymerize plant oils with ethylene leads to a new class of polymers and may enhance the usage of plant oils for plastics greatly. The new polymers might be used e.g. for tackifiers or primers.

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