Copolymerization of Ethylene and Vinyl Amino Acidic Ester Catalyzed by Titanium and Zirconium Complexes

A series of titanium and zirconium complexes with ligands based on di-isopropyl phosphorus-phenylamine and their derivatives were synthesized and characterized. These catalysts were utilized to catalyze the copolymerization of ethylene with N-acetyl-O-(dec-9-enyl)-L-tyrosine ethyl ester with high catalytic activity of 6.63 × 104 g P (mol Ti)−1 h−1 after activation by methylaluminoxane (MAO). The effects of ligand structure, metal atoms (Ti, Zr) and polymerization conditions were investigated in detail. The obtained polymers were characterized by 13C-NMR, DSC, FT-IR, and GPC. The results showed that the obtained copolymer had a high comonomer incorporation rate of 2.56 mol % within the copolymer chain. The melting temperature of the copolymer was up to 138.9 °C, higher than that of the obtained homopolyethylene.