Abstract: Butadiene polymerization behaviors of Fe(CF3SO3)2Al(i-Bu)3 catalyst system using diisooctyl phosphite as electron donor have been investigated. The catalyst system(n(Fe)∶n(P8)∶n(Al)=1∶4∶20) shows fair good activity, syndioselectivity, and especially, both catalytic activity and syndioselectivity increases as elevating polymerization temperature, yielding polybutadiene with over 85% of 1,2-structure content and 99% of syndiotacticity at 50 ℃. Differentiating from the Fe catalyst systems reported earlier, the current catalyst system possesses much better syndioselectivity and thermal tolerance allowing polymerizing butadiene at relatively high temperature. Particularly, the catalyst system does not involve using any noxious components, implying premising practical application in the area of butadiene polymerization.

Key words: iron catalyst, butadiene polymerization, thermal stability, stereo-selectivity, syndiotactic1,2-polybutadiene