Exploring β-Myrcene Incorporation in Propene Copolymerization Using Half-Titanocene Catalysts

Exploring a possibility of β-myrcene (MY) incorporation in propene copolymerization has been studied in the presence of phenoxide-modified half-titanocene, Cp’TiCl2(O-2,6-iPr2-4-C6H3) (Cp’ = Cp*, Me3SiC5H4), and ketimide-modified half-titanicene, Cp’TiCl2(N=CtBu2) (Cp’ = Cp*, Cp), catalysts. The permethylated Cp* catalysts exhibited good catalytic activities in the copolymerizations but afforded the copolymers up to 3 mol% MY incorporation; the other catalysts showed the negligible activities. The resulting copolymers were amorphous and exhibited glass transition temperatures (Tg) that de-creased with increasing the comonomer (MY) content, reaching values as low as −17 °C.