Copolymerization of Ethylene and Fluoroalkylnorbornene Using Highly Active ansa‐(Fluorenyl)(amido)titanium‐Based Catalysts

Abstract Fluoroalkyl‐functionalized semi‐crystalline polyolefin is obtained by the copolymerization of ethylene and 2‐nonafluorobutyl‐5‐norbornene using ansa ‐dimethylsilylene(fluorenyl)(amido)titanium complexes 1a and 1b as catalysts. The copolymerization proceeds with a moderate activity affording a copolymer with high fluorine content up to 5.7 mol% (22 wt%). The melting point decreases from 134 to 82 °C according to the increase of comonomer content. Observation of a single melting point of the copolymer obtained from complex 1b clearly shows the uniform structure of the copolymer, whereas complex 1a gives copolymer with two melting points. The number‐averaged molecular weight of the copolymer reaches over a 10 5 order of magnitude, which enables the formation of thin film via solvent casting process. Tensile moduli of these copolymers are greatly affected by both molecular weight of the copolymer and comonomer content, and almost comparable with that of low‐density linear polyethylene.