BUTENE OLIGOMERIZATION OVER MESOPOROUS MTS-TYPE ALUMINOSILICATES

The oligomerization of butene at 423 K and 1.5-2 MPa has been investig ated over a series of zeolite, amorphous silica-alumina (ASA) and orde red mesoporous aluminium-containing micelle templated silica (MTS) cat alysts. While olefin oligomerization into strongly adsorbed residue an d fast deactivation prevailed on microporous catalysts and ASA, mesopo rous aluminosilicates with uniform pore openings near 3 nm in size exh ibited high selectivity and good stability with time for the productio n of branched dimers. The characterization of the surface properties o f the solids, the nature of the adsorbed residue on the spent catalyst s, and the identification of reaction intermediates by in situ infrare d spectroscopy of co-adsorbed acetonitrile and butene, suggest that th e unique catalytic behaviour of MTS-type catalysts is related to the m oderate strength and the high dispersion of the acid sites in the meso porous structure. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.