Co-catalysis in Friedel–Crafts reactions. Part IX. Polymerisation of propene by boron fluoride–methanol

Abstract

The kinetics of the polymerisation of propene have been studied in methylene chloride solution at –15, –35, and –50°, with use of boron fluoride–methanol mixtures as catalyst. The rate expression for the disappearance of monomer was found to be –dM/dt=k[BF₃]_soln[CH₃OH·BF₃]^3/2[M] and k was virtually independent of temperature. The molecular weight of the product increased from about 300 to about 1000 as the temperature was reduced from –15 to –80° and was independent of monomer concentration but increased slightly with co-catalyst concentration.