Processes for making polyisobutylene compositions

1. A method of making a catalyst system comprising:

providing a support material selected from the group consisting of Al 2 O 3 , ZrO 2 , TiO 2 , SnO 2 , CeO 2 , SiO 2 , SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 , and combinations thereof, the support material having an Al 2 O 3 content between about 25 wt % and about 50 wt %, based on a total weight of the support material;

calcining the support material at a temperature of about 450° C. to about 900° C.; 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, wherein a concentration of BF 3 is greater than about 30 wt %, based on a total weight of the catalyst system.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

contacting the catalyst system with one or more modifying agents.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the complexing agent is an oxygen containing compound or a nitrogen containing compound.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein, the catalyst system is formed by adding to the support material a mixture comprising BF 3 , and a concentration of BF 3 is greater than about 40 wt % based on a total weight of the catalyst system.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst system is formed by adding to the support material a mixture comprising BF 3 and a complexing agent, and a mole ratio of the complexing agent to the BF 3 is between about 0.5 and about 2.

6. A catalyst system comprising:

a support material selected from the group consisting of Al 2 O 3 , ZrO 2 , TiO 2 , SnO 2 , CeO 2 , SiO 2 , SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 , and combinations thereof, the support material having a SiO 2 content greater than about 45 wt %, based on a total weight of the support material; and

BF 3 , wherein a concentration of BF 3 is greater than about 30 wt %, based on a total weight of the catalyst system.

7. The catalyst system of claim 6 , further comprising:

a complexing agent.

8. The catalyst system of claim 7 , wherein the complexing agent is an oxygen containing compound or a nitrogen containing compound.

9. The catalyst system of claim 6 , wherein the concentration of BF 3 is greater than about 40 wt %, based on the total weight of the catalyst system.

10. The catalyst system of claim 6 , wherein the support material has an Al 2 O 3 content between about 25 wt % and about 50 wt %, based on the total weight of the support material.

11. A method of making a polymer composition, comprising:

flowing a catalyst system and a feedstock into a reactor to form a reaction mixture comprising the feedstock and the catalyst system, the feedstock comprising isobutylene, the catalyst system comprising:

a) a support material selected from the group consisting of Al 2 O 3 , ZrO 2 , TiO 2 , SnO 2 , CeO 2 , SiO 2 , SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 , and combinations thereof; and

(b) BF 3 , wherein a concentration of BF 3 is greater than about 30 wt %, based on a total weight of the catalyst system;

contacting the isobutylene with the catalyst system, wherein contacting the isobutylene with the catalyst system comprises maintaining a temperature of the reaction mixture between about −35° C. and about 100° C.; and

obtaining the polymer composition.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the catalyst system further comprises:

a complexing agent.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the feedstock comprises 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.

14. The method of claim 11 , 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.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein providing the catalyst system comprises:

adding to the support material (a) BF 3 , (b) a mixture comprising BF 3 and a complexing agent, or (c) a combination thereof.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

discharging the polymer composition from the 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.

17. 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:

a) a support material selected from the group consisting of Al 2 O 3 , ZrO 2 , TiO 2 , SnO 2 , CeO 2 , SiO 2 , SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 , and combinations thereof; and

(b) BF 3 , wherein a concentration of BF 3 is greater than about 30 wt % based on a total weight of the catalyst system;

contacting the isobutylene with the catalyst system; and

obtaining the polymer composition,

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, and 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.