Hydroconversion of alkenes over silica supported chromium(II) catalysts Original Research Article

This paper reports results of studies on the hydroconversion of 1-hexene, 1-octene and cyclohexene on two Cr/SiO2 catalysts that had been calcined and reduced at different temperatures with carbon monoxide. In spite of the similar chemical composition and oxidation number of chromium, these catalysts exhibit considerable differences in alkene conversion in the presence of hydrogen. Alkene conversion further depends on the type of alkene used as well as on the hydrogen pressure. Besides hydrogenation, alkenes undergo oligomerization up to a certain degree. An increase in hydrogen pressure leads to an increase in conversion of alkenes and a rise in the yield of saturated hydrocarbons, while the yield of oligomers is slightly reduced. Our results show that metathesis reactions do not contribute to oligomer formation.