Kinetic and mechanistic studies of propene dimerization catalyzed by silica-supported nickel complexes Original Research Article

Silica-supported nickel complexes were shown to catalyze propene dimerization (flow reactor; flow-rate = 5 cm3/min; pressure = 4 bars and temperature = 45°C). A reaction pathway based on the concerted coupling mechanism is proposed. In this work, a computer simulation of the propene conversion-time profile supports this reaction pathway and provides the kinetic parameters. The latter are discussed in terms of active site structure.