SPHERICAL CATALYST COMPONENTS FOR OLEFIN POLYMERIZATION

1 . A process of producing a spherical catalyst component for use in producing polyolefin polymers, the process comprising:

a) dissolving a magnesium halide compound in a solvent to form a homogeneous solution, the solvent comprising an alcohol;

b) treating the homogeneous solution with a first titanium compound in the presence of a surfactant, a supportive electron donor, and optionally a first internal electron donor to form a solid precipitate;

c) treating the solid precipitate with a second titanium compound in the presence a second internal electron donor to form a spherical catalyst component including a magnesium halide compound base incorporating the titanium unit, the supportive electron donor, the second internal electron donor, and optionally the first electron donor; and

wherein the spherical catalyst component comprises particles having a substantially spherical shape and exhibiting a D50 from about 3 μm to about 150 μm.

2 . (canceled)

3 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the first and the second titanium compounds are the same or different and are represented as formula:

Ti(OR 29 ) g X 3 4-g ;

wherein:

each R 29 is independently a C 1 -C 20 alkyl, C 3 -C 20 cycloalkyl, or C 6 -C 30 aryl;

X 3 is Br, Cl, or I; and

g is 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4.

4 . The process of claim 1 , where in the magnesium halide compound is a compound of formula Mg(OR 30 ) n Cl 2-n , wherein R 30 is alkyl or haloalkyl, and n is 0 or 1.

5 . The process of claim 4 , wherein in the magnesium halide compound is magnesium dichloride.

6 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the supportive electron donor comprises an aryl ester.

7 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the supportive electron donor is represented as formula:

wherein:

R 21 is alkyl, cycloalkyl, or aryl having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a heteroatom, or a combination thereof;

each of R 22 -R 26 is independently H, alkyl, cycloalkyl, or aryl having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, heteroatom, or a combination of any two or more thereof.

8 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the supportive electron donor comprises an alkylbenzoate.

9 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the supportive electron donor comprises ethylbenzoate.

10 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the supportive electron donor is present in the spherical catalyst component from about 0.1 wt % to about 15 wt %.

11 . (canceled)

12 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the first and second internal electron donors are independently represented as:

wherein:

X 1 and X 2 are each O, S, or NR 47 ;

each of R 15 through R 20 are independently H, a heteroatom, alkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, heterocyclyl, heterocyclylalkyl, heteroaryl, or heteroarylalkyl; and q is an integer from 0 to 12. In some embodiments, each of R 15 through R 20 are independently F, Cl, Br, I, NR 2 46 , SiR 80 3 , alkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, heterocyclyl, heterocyclylalkyl, heteroaryl, or heteroarylalkyl; q is an integer from 0 to 12;

each R 46 is independently selected from H, C 1 -C 20 alkyl, C 6 -C 20 aryl or alkylaryl;

R 47 is H, C 1 -C 20 alkyl, C 6 -C 20 aryl, C 6 -C 20 aralkyl;

each R 80 is individually alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkoxy, cycloalkylalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, heterocyclyl, heterocyclylalkyl, heteroaryl, or heteroarylalkyl; and

q is an integer from 0 to 12.

13 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the first and second internal electron donors are independently represented as:

wherein:

X 1 and X 2 are each O, S, or NR 47 ;

R 36 and R 37 are each independently selected from F, Cl, Br, I, alkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, alkylaryl, —OR 45 , or —NR 2 46 ;

R 40 , R 41 , R 42 , and R 43 are each independently H, a heteroatom, alkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, aryl, alkylaryl, heterocyclyl, heterocyclylalkyl, heteroaryl, heteroarylalkyl, or an —OR 44 ;

R 44 is C 1 -C 20 alkyl, C 6 -C 30 aryl, C 6 -C 30 aralkyl, or C 6 -C 30 alkylaryl;

R 45 is C 1 -C 20 alkyl, C 6 -C 20 aryl, or alkylaryl;

R 46 is H, C 1 -C 20 alkyl, C 6 -C 20 aryl, C 6 -C 20 aralkyl; and

R 47 is H, C 1 -C 20 alkyl, C 6 -C 20 aryl, C 6 -C 20 aralkyl.

14 . (canceled)

15 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the first and second internal electron donors are independently represented by one of the following formulae:

wherein:

R 50 , R 51 , R 52 , R 53 , R 54 , R 55 , R 56 , and R 57 are independently H, a heteroatom, alkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, heterocyclyl, heterocyclylalkyl, heteroaryl, or heteroarylalkyl.

16 - 17 . (canceled)

18 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the alcohol comprises a C 1 -C 20 alcohol.

19 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the surfactant comprises an acrylate or a polyacrylate.

20 . The process of claim 1 , wherein treating the homogenous solution further comprises adding a di-(C 1 -C 12 )-alkylether.

21 . The process of claim 1 further comprising adding an organosilicon compound containing Si—O groups, O—Si—O groups, or both.

22 - 23 . (canceled)

24 . A spherical catalyst component produced according to claim 1 .

25 . A catalyst system for use in olefinic polymerization, comprising the spherical catalyst component of claim 24 , an organoaluminium compound.

26 - 30 . (canceled)

31 . A process for polymerizing or copolymerizing an olefinic monomer, the process comprising contacting an olefinic monomer with the catalyst system of claim 25 to form a polyolefin.

32 . A polymer composition comprising polyolefin particles comprising a polyolefin prepared in the presence of the spherical catalyst component of claim 24 , the polyolefin particles exhibiting an aspect ratio of b/l3 of greater than 0.75, a sphericity index (SPHT) of greater than 0.80, and a bulk density of greater than about 0.36 g/cc.

33 - 34 . (canceled)