Selective Production of Propylene and 1-Butene from Ethylene by Catalytic Cascade Reactions

In this study, we report that ethylene can be simultaneously and selectively converted into propylene and 1-butene through one-pot catalytic cascade reactions. In a single-continuous-flow reactor and under identical mild conditions (60 °C, 3 MPa), without the use of cocatalyst, ethylene was first dimerized/isomerized over Ni-AlKIT-6 catalysts to form butenes, which reacted then with the excess of ethylene over ReOx/Al2O3 to produce propylene and 1-butene with more than 86% total selectivity. The selectivity for 1-butene was 97.4% in the C4 fraction. The initial ethylene conversion was 73% and stabilized at 35% after 4 h on stream, with around 45% selectivity in propylene and 42% selectivity in 1-butene.