Linear alpha-olefins are important industrial intermediates for the production of detergents, lubricants and as co-monomers in linear low density polyethylene. Several commercial processes produce LAOs with different chain length distributions. Nickel- and chromium-based complexes are amongst the most active ethylene oligomerisation catalysts, with activities exceeding 100,000 gmmol-1h-1bar-1. Chromium complexes with benzimidazole-amine ligands have shown a high selectivity for the formation of linear α-olefins, generally greater than 90%. Whereas some of the catalysts produce olefins with a Schulz-Flory distribution, for many catalysts an alternating olefin distribution is observed. This product formation cannot be described by the Schulz-Flory distribution and a new mathematical distribution analysis has been developed. Mechanistic studies have been complemented by computational studies on chromium-based catalysts, which support the proposed mechanism involving both single and double ethylene insertions, which is believed to be responsible for the formation of alternating distributions.

Ethylene oligomerisation beyond Schulz-Flory distributions

255th National Meeting (2018)

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