Butene oligomerization over mesoporous MTS-type aluminosilicates

The oligomerization of butene at 423 K and 1.5-2 MPa has been investigated over a series of zeolite, amorphous silica-alumina (ASA) and ordered mesoporous aluminium-containing micelle templated silica (MTS) catalysts. While olefin oligomerization into strongly adsorbed residue and fast deactivation prevailed on microporous catalysts and ASA, mesoporous aluminosilicates with uniform pore openings near 3 nm in size exhibited high selectivity and good stability with time for the production of branched dimers. The characterization of the surface properties of the solids, the nature of the adsorbed residue on the spent catalysts, and the identification of reaction intermediates by in situ infrared spectroscopy of co-adsorbed acetonitrile and butene, suggest that the unique catalytic behaviour of MTS-type catalysts is related to the moderate strength and the high dispersion of the acid sites in the mesoporous structure. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.