Chlorotitanium (IV) Tetradentate Schiff-Base Complex Immobilized on Inorganic Supports: Support Type and Other Factors Having Effect on Ethylene Polymerization Activity

A titanium complex with [O,N,N,O]-type tetradentate Schiff base (LTiCl2), never used before in polymerization of olefins, was immobilized on silica- and magnesium-type carriers, and it was used in ethylene polymerization. The conducted research revealed that the catalytic properties of the complex LTiCl2 supported on those carriers were different for both the catalytic systems studied, and simultaneously they turned out different from those of the unsupported system. The supported catalysts require the use of Me3Al, Et3Al, or MAO as the activator to be able to offer high catalytic activities, whereas Et2AlCl is needed for the nonsupported catalyst. This finding, together with considerable changes in polymerization yields and in properties of polymers versus composition of the catalytic system, suggest that there are different types of active sites in the studied catalysts. The catalyst anchored on the carrier produced in the reaction Of MgCl2 center dot 3 center dot 4EtOH with Et2AlCl is definitely the most active one within the support systems tested. Its activity remarkably increases with the increasing reaction temperature. Moreover, that catalyst does not undergo deactivation over the studied period of time, irrespective of the type of the activator used and of the process temperature. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 4811-4821, 2009