Synthesis of Brominated Polyethylene by Copolymerization of Ethylene with ω–bromoalkene Catalyzed by a Metallocene and Methylaluminoxane System

The metallocene-catalyzed copolymerization of ethylene and 11–bromo–1–undecene was carried out to synthesize brominated polyethylene (PE). A modified methylaluminoxane (MMAO) solution was used as a cocatalyst and rac–Et(H4Ind)2ZrCl2 as a catalyst. The copolymerization showed a high activity and afforded the copolymer with a 11-bromo-1-undecene incorporation ranging from 1.0 to 4.3 mol%. When using a dried methylaluminoxane (dMAO) as a cocatalyst, the incorporation ratio of 11-bromo-1-undecene increased remarkably to 25.2 mol%. It was demonstrated that the type of MAO used as a cocatalyst affects the composition of the ethylene/11-bromo-1-undecene copolymer without changing the structure of the catalytic complex.