Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and poly(tetrahydrofuran) (PTHF) were studied as possible electron donors
for heterogeneous Ziegler–Natta catalysts employed for ethylene polymerization. Two synthetic routes
were applied for the preparation of the catalysts by mixing the polyether and TiCl4 with -MgCl2 support
in the same step or at different stages of the catalyst synthesis. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
(FT-IR) studies revealed a clear interaction between PEG and -MgCl2 inducing changes in the
chain conformation of the polyether. If PEG was added at the same stage with TiCl4, a yellow PEG/TiCl4
complex was formed and the activity of the catalyst was decreased. A partial decomposition of PTHF
to tetrahydrofuran (THF) in contact with -MgCl2 was evidenced from the FT-IR and nuclear magnetic
resonance spectroscopy data. The decomposition could be induced by the Lewis acid sites or by possible
organomagnesium compounds present in the synthesized -MgCl2. However, the decomposition did not
have a negative effect on the polymerization behavior of the prepared catalysts, when compared to the
reference catalysts where THF was initially used as a donor. The catalysts prepared with polyethers as
electron donor showed good activity in ethylene (around 1000 kgP/molTi h) and in ethylene/1-hexene
(around 1600 kgP/molTi h) polymerizations.