The reactions of components of the catalytic systems (C 5 H 5 ) 4 Zr-MAO and (C 5 H 5 ) 4 Ti-MAO in the absence and in the presence of the monomer were studied in order to obtain information on the mechanism of polymerization and copolymerization of ethylene. It was shown that the reactions accompanied by a change in the coordination mode of the ligands in the metallocene complex, a change in the coordination number of the transition metal, and the reduction of the transition metal can occur in these systems. A mechanism for the interaction of components in the indicated catalytic systems was proposed on the basis of our results obtained by various physicochemical methods and literature data.