A novel ethylene/?-olefin/non-conjugated polyene copolymer comprising structural units derived from ethylene (A), an ?-olefin (B) of 3 to 20 carbon atoms, and a non-conjugated polyene (C) containing intramolecularly two or more partial structures in total selected from the group consisting of structures of Formulae (I) and (II), and having a small number of long-chain branches, ##STR00001## The novel ethylene/?-olefin/non-conjugated polyene copolymer contains a non-conjugated polyene such as VNB as a copolymerization component and a small long-chain branch content and is excellent in curing properties in the case of crosslinking using peroxide; and a process for producing the ethylene/?-olefin/non-conjugated polyene copolymer, and a use thereof are provided.

A novel ethylene/?-olefin/non-conjugated polyene copolymer comprising structural units derived from ethylene (A), an ?-olefin (B) of 3 to 20 carbon atoms, and a non-conjugated polyene (C) containing intramolecularly two or more partial structures in total selected from the group consisting of structures of Formulae (I) and (II), and having a small number of long-chain branches, ##STR00001## The novel ethylene/?-olefin/non-conjugated polyene copolymer contains a non-conjugated polyene such as VNB as a copolymerization component and a small long-chain branch content and is excellent in curing properties in the case of crosslinking using peroxide; and a process for producing the ethylene/?-olefin/non-conjugated polyene copolymer, and a use thereof are provided.

The present disclosure provides methods for producing an olefin polymer by contacting a C.sub.3-C.sub.40 olefin, ethylene and a diene with a catalyst system including an activator and a metallocene catalyst compound comprising a substituted or unsubstituted indacenyl group and obtaining a C.sub.3-C.sub.40 olefin-ethylene-diene terpolymer typically comprising from 1 to 35 mol % of ethylene, from 98.9 to 65 mol % C3-C.sub.40 olefin, and, optionally, from 0.1 to 10 mol % diene. Preferably, a propylene-ethylene-ethylidene norbornene is obtained.

The present disclosure provides methods for producing an olefin polymer by contacting a C.sub.3-C.sub.40 olefin, ethylene and a diene with a catalyst system including an activator and a metallocene catalyst compound comprising a substituted or unsubstituted indacenyl group and obtaining a C.sub.3-C.sub.40 olefin-ethylene-diene terpolymer typically comprising from 1 to 35 mol % of ethylene, from 98.9 to 65 mol % C3-C.sub.40 olefin, and, optionally, from 0.1 to 10 mol % diene. Preferably, a propylene-ethylene-ethylidene norbornene is obtained.

The present disclosure provides methods for producing an olefin polymer by contacting a C.sub.3-C.sub.40 olefin, ethylene and a diene with a catalyst system including an activator and a metallocene catalyst compound comprising a substituted or unsubstituted indacenyl group and obtaining a C.sub.3-C.sub.40 olefin-ethylene-diene terpolymer typically comprising from 30 to 55 mol % ethylene, from 69.09 to 45 mol % C.sub.3 to C.sub.40 comonomer, and from 0.01 to 7 mol % diene wherein the Tg of the terpolymer is 28 C. or less. Preferably, a propylene-ethylene-ethylidene norbornene is obtained.

The present disclosure provides methods for producing an olefin polymer by contacting a C.sub.3-C.sub.40 olefin, ethylene and a diene with a catalyst system including an activator and a metallocene catalyst compound comprising a substituted or unsubstituted indacenyl group and obtaining a C.sub.3-C.sub.40 olefin-ethylene-diene terpolymer typically comprising from 30 to 55 mol % ethylene, from 69.09 to 45 mol % C.sub.3 to C.sub.40 comonomer, and from 0.01 to 7 mol % diene wherein the Tg of the terpolymer is 28 C. or less. Preferably, a propylene-ethylene-ethylidene norbornene is obtained.

This invention relates to production of propylene-predominant copolymers using a transition metal complex and at least two different non-coordinating anion activators. An olefinic feed comprising a C.sub.3-C.sub.40 alpha olefin, ethylene, and a diene monomer is contacted under polymerization reaction conditions with a catalyst system comprising a first non-coordinating anion activator, a second non-coordinating borate activator differing from the first non-coordinating anion activator, and a transition metal complex comprising a tetrahydro-s-indacenyl or tetrahydro-as-indacenyl group bound to a group 3-6 transition metal. A molar ratio of the first non-coordinating anion activator to the second non-coordinating anion activator is sufficient to produce a melt flow rate under the polymerization reaction conditions for the resulting copolymer of about 30 g/10 min or below as determined by ASTM D-1238 (230 C., 2.16 kg).

This invention relates to production of propylene-predominant copolymers using a transition metal complex and at least two different non-coordinating anion activators. An olefinic feed comprising a C.sub.3-C.sub.40 alpha olefin, ethylene, and a diene monomer is contacted under polymerization reaction conditions with a catalyst system comprising a first non-coordinating anion activator, a second non-coordinating borate activator differing from the first non-coordinating anion activator, and a transition metal complex comprising a tetrahydro-s-indacenyl or tetrahydro-as-indacenyl group bound to a group 3-6 transition metal. A molar ratio of the first non-coordinating anion activator to the second non-coordinating anion activator is sufficient to produce a melt flow rate under the polymerization reaction conditions for the resulting copolymer of about 30 g/10 min or below as determined by ASTM D-1238 (230 C., 2.16 kg).

A 1-butene/ethylene copolymer (A) satisfying the following requirements (A1) to (A5). (A1) a content of constituent units (i) derived from 1-butene is in a range of 70 to 99.9 mol %, and a content of constituent units (ii) derived from ethylene is in a range of 0.1 to 30 mol % [provided that a total of constituent units (i) and constituent units (ii) is 100 mol %]; (A2) an isotactic pentad fraction (mmmm) calculated by .sup.13C-NMR is in a range of 80 to 99.9%; (A3) an intrinsic viscosity [?] measured in decalin at 135? C. is in a range of 0.7 to 2.0 dl/g; (A4) a melt flow rate (MFR) measured at 190? C. and a load of 2.16 kg in accordance with ASTM D1238 is 1 to 100 g/10 min; and (A5) a melting peak is not observed during second temperature raising in calorimetry with a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC).

A 1-butene/ethylene copolymer (A) satisfying the following requirements (A1) to (A5). (A1) a content of constituent units (i) derived from 1-butene is in a range of 70 to 99.9 mol %, and a content of constituent units (ii) derived from ethylene is in a range of 0.1 to 30 mol % [provided that a total of constituent units (i) and constituent units (ii) is 100 mol %]; (A2) an isotactic pentad fraction (mmmm) calculated by .sup.13C-NMR is in a range of 80 to 99.9%; (A3) an intrinsic viscosity [?] measured in decalin at 135? C. is in a range of 0.7 to 2.0 dl/g; (A4) a melt flow rate (MFR) measured at 190? C. and a load of 2.16 kg in accordance with ASTM D1238 is 1 to 100 g/10 min; and (A5) a melting peak is not observed during second temperature raising in calorimetry with a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC).