Oligomerization of α-octene catalyzed by zeolites

Abstract

The oligomerization of octene-1 was studied in the presence of zeolites of different structural types (e.g., Y, Beta, ZSM-12, and ZSM-5). It was shown that at 150–200°C, wide-pore zeolite catalysts Y, Beta, and ZSM-12 exhibit high catalytic activity in the reaction. The conversion of catalyzed octene can be as high as 96%, and the yield of oligomers is 88–100 wt %. Zeolite ZSM-5 at 150–180°C has low activity and mainly catalyzes the isomerization of octene-1. As the temperature rises to 250°C, low molecular weight oligomers resulting from the cracking process are the main products of this reaction. The activity and selectivity of zeolite catalysts in the oligomerization of octene-1 are conditioned by their acidic properties and structural characteristics, as well as by the reaction conditions. It was revealed that the main oligomerization products are octene dimers having an alkylnaphthene structure and containing unsaturated hydrocarbons with tri- and tetra-substituted double bonds in amounts of 2.2–3.2%. The properties of the octene oligomers synthesized in the presence of zeolite Beta are similar to the characteristics of hydrogenated poly-α-olefins, the oligomerization of which was performed on AlCl3 complexes.