Ti alkoxide-based catalyst system in selective ethylene dimerization: High performance through modifying by alkylsilanes

Butene-1 production through a selective ethylene dimerization is one of the largest industrial processes, which is catalyzed by homogeneous catalyst system. The common industrial catalyst system is comprised of Ti alkoxide-based catalysts in combination with AlEt₃ as an activator. In this study, the alkylsilanes were used as novel improving agents in the catalyst system for highly selective ethylene dimerization to butene-1. The nature and concentration of alkylsilanes on the dimerization rate, catalyst yield, by-product production, and selectivity to butene-1 were investigated in detail. It was found that alkylsilanes improved the productivity and selectivity of the catalyst. Moreover, the content of the solid by-product considerably decreased. The performance of the modified catalyst system was noticeably higher than that of the nonmodified one. Totally, it was proved that alkylsilanes could play a modifying role in the selective ethylene catalytic dimerization process.