Polymerization catalysts based on N,N-dialkylcarbamato
complexes of titanium(IV) appear particularly interesting,
because these novel catalytic precursors are rather cheap and
easy to synthesize and handle. This contribution reports
ethylene polymerization behavior of titanium(IV) complexes of
general formula Ti(O2CNR2)4 R ¼ Me (I) and Et (II) and
TiCl2(O2CNMe2)2 (III). These precursors in conjunction with
methylaluminoxane resulted active catalysts for the polymerization
of ethylene, affording high-density polyethylene with
limited branch content. The influence of the polymerization parameters
was studied with particular reference to the type of
catalyst components, solvent, temperature, monomer concentration,
and Al/Ti ratio. The nature of the solvent appears crucial
for catalytic performances: when toluene was replaced by
chlorobenzene, a significant increase of the productivity was
ascertained. The obtained polymers were characterized by
DSC, size exclusion chromatography, FTIR, and NMR techniques