Processes for making polyisobutylene compositions
Methods of making polyisobutylene and catalyst systems are described. Polyisobutylene compositions and catalyst system compositions are also described. In some embodiments, a method of making a catalyst system includes: providing a support material comprising one or more ion exchange resins; dehydrating the support material; and forming a catalyst system by adding to the support material (a) a mixture comprising BF 3 , (b) a mixture comprising BF 3 and a complexing agent, or (c) both. In some embodiments, a method of making a polymer composition includes providing a catalyst system comprising: (a) a support material comprising one or more ion exchange resins, and (b) BF 3 ; providing a feedstock comprising isobutylene; forming a reaction mixture comprising the feedstock and the catalyst system; contacting the isobutylene with the catalyst system; and obtaining a polymer composition.
1. A catalyst system comprising:
a support material comprising one or more ion exchange resins; and
BF 3 , wherein a concentration of BF 3 is greater than about 30 wt %, based on a total weight of the catalyst system.
2. The catalyst system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more ion exchange resins comprises an anionic exchange resin, a cationic exchange resin, an acidic cation exchange resin, a basic anionic exchange resin, or a combination thereof.
3. The catalyst system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a complexing agent.
4. The catalyst system of claim 1 , wherein the concentration of BF 3 is greater than about 40 wt %, based on the total weight of the catalyst system.
5. A catalyst system comprising:
a support material comprising one or more ion exchange resins;
a complexing agent; and
BF 3 , wherein a concentration of BF 3 is greater than about 30 wt %, based on a total weight of the catalyst system.
6. A method of making a catalyst system comprising:
dehydrating a support material at a temperature of about 30° C. to about 200° C., the support material comprising one or more ion exchange resins; and
forming the catalyst system by adding to the support material (a) BF 3 , (b) a mixture comprising BF 3 and a complexing agent, or (c) both, wherein a concentration of BF 3 is greater than about 30 wt %, based on a total weight of the catalyst system.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the one or more ion exchange resins comprises an anionic exchange resin, a cationic exchange resin, an acidic cation exchange resin, a basic anionic exchange resin, or a combination thereof.
8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
contacting the catalyst system with one or more modifying agents.
9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the complexing agent is an oxygen containing compound or a nitrogen containing compound.
10. The method of claim 6 , wherein when the catalyst system is formed by adding to the support material BF 3 , a concentration of BF 3 is greater than about 40 wt % based on the total weight of the catalyst system.
11. The method of claim 6 , wherein when the catalyst system is formed by adding to the support material the mixture comprising BF 3 and complexing agent, a mole ratio of the complexing agent to the BF 3 is between about 0.5 and about 2.
12. A method of making a polymer composition, comprising:
forming a reaction mixture comprising a feedstock and a catalyst system, the feedstock comprising isobutylene, the catalyst system comprising BF 3 and a support material comprising one or more ion exchange resins;
contacting the isobutylene with the catalyst system; and
obtaining the polymer composition.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the one or more ion exchange resins comprises an anionic exchange resin, a cationic exchange resin, an acidic cation exchange resin, a basic anionic exchange resin, or a combination thereof.
14. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
a concentration of BF 3 is greater than about 30 wt %, based on a total weight of the catalyst system;
the catalyst system further comprises a complexing agent; or
a combination thereof.
15. The method of claim 12 , wherein forming the reaction mixture comprising the feedstock and the catalyst system comprises flowing the catalyst system into a reactor and flowing the feedstock into the reactor, and wherein contacting the isobutylene with the catalyst system comprises maintaining a temperature of the reaction mixture between about −35° C. and about 100° C.
16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the feedstock is raffinate-1, or wherein the feedstock comprises greater than about 20 wt % isobutylene based on a total weight of the feedstock, or a combination thereof.
17. The method of claim 13 , wherein a concentration of the catalyst system in the reaction mixture is between about 500 ppm and about 10,000 ppm based on a total weight of a catalyst feed, and wherein a BF 3 concentration in the reaction mixture is between about 150 ppm and about 3,000 ppm based on the total weight of the catalyst feed.
18. The method of claim 12 , the catalyst system further comprises a complexing agent.
19. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
discharging the polymer composition from a reactor;
feeding the polymer composition to one or more separation apparatuses selected from the group consisting of a solid-liquid separation device and a distillation column; and
discharging the polymer composition from one or more of the separation apparatuses.
20. The method of claim 12 , wherein the polymer composition comprises:
a polyisobutylene having a Mn of about 320 daltons to about 10,000 daltons, the polyisobutylene comprising a first portion comprising polymer chains having alpha vinylidene groups, and one or more of a second portion comprising polymer chains having beta vinylidene groups and a third portion comprising polymer chains having internal vinylidene groups, wherein:
the first portion is greater than about 75 wt % based on a total weight of the polymer composition, and
a total content of the second portion plus the third portion is less than about 25 wt % based on the total weight of the polymer composition.