Ethylene to Propylene by One-Pot Catalytic Cascade Reactions

An original method for converting ethylene to propylene involving cascade oligomerization/isomerization/metathesis reactions over two robust and highly active heterogeneous catalysts is investigated. In a single flow reactor and under identical conditions, ethylene was first selectively dimerized/isomerized over Ni-AlSBA-15 catalyst to form 2-butenes, which reacted then with the excess of ethylene over MoO3–SiO2–Al2O3 to produce propylene. At 80 °C and 3 MPa, specific activities up to 48 mmol of propylene per gram of catalyst per hour were obtained.