Immobilization of bis(imino)pyridine iron complexes onto mesoporous molecular sieves and their catalytic performance in ethylene oligomerization

Bis(imino)pyridine iron complexes were supported on MAO-treated mesoporous molecular sieves MCM-41 and SBA-15. The effects of reaction temperature and Al/Fe mole ratio on ethylene oligomerization were investigated in detail. The supported complexes, upon activation with MAO, exhibited good catalytic performance towards ethylene oligomerization and formed linear α-olefins at high reaction temperatures. MCM-41 with relatively narrow pore size tended to produce more lower molar mass α-olefins possibly due to more remarkable confinement effects.