Selectivity for dimers in pentene oligomerization over acid zeolites

The reactions of 1-pentene over acid zeolites were investigated in the liquid phase at 473 K The primary reactions were isomerization, dimerization, and subsequent cracking of dimers. Zeolites consisting of only 10-membered (MEI) or 12-membered rings (FAU, BEA) behaved similarly, with dimerization and subsequent cracking products observed. Zeolites possessing 8-membered rings (MOR, FER) showed very different selectivity from each other and from other zeolites. MOR showed almost complete conversion of C-10 olefins, such that hexene and butene from cracking were the dominant products. FER showed high activity and selectivity for dimerization, with very small amounts of cracking products observed. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.