Influence of indenyl ligand substitution pattern on metallocene‐catalyzed propene copolymerization with 1‐octene

Abstract Copolymerization of propene with 1‐octene (1 mol/1 mol) was performed in toluene at 40°C in the presence of homogeneous methylaluminoxane (MAO)‐activated ansa‐metallocenes in order to study the role of benzannelation and 2‐methyl‐substitution of the silylene‐bridged bisindenyl ligand on comonomer incoporation, molecular mass, molecular mass distribution, and end groups. While 2‐methyl‐substitution promoted higher degree of polymerization without affecting copolymerization parameters, benzannelation improved markedly 1‐octene incorporation. Only with MAO‐activated rac‐Me2Si(2‐MeBenz[e]Ind)2ZrCl2 catalysts vinylidene end groups were formed exclusively. Molecular weight distribution remains narrow in all experiments.