Selectivity for dimers in pentene oligomerization over acid zeolites

• Zeolite framework type plays a strong role in selectivity in acid-catalyzed dimerization.
• Medium to large pore zeolites are active for dimerization and cracking (MFI, FAU, BEA).
• FER is highly selective for dimers, with little cracking due to small pore size.
• MOR shows high selectivity for dimer cracking, with only one cracking pathway observed.

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 (MFI) 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 C10 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.