Oligomerization of isobutene over solid acid catalysts

Oligomerization of isobutene has been carried out in the liquid phase at mild conditions using n-butane as a diluent. The reaction was studied at low temperatures (30–70 °C) and at pressures high enough to ensure that the reaction takes place in the liquid phase. A number of different resins and zeolites were evaluated as catalysts for the dimerization. The best performance was obtained with Amberlyst 15 whereas the zeolites (H-ZSM5, H-Mordenite, β and Y) all showed very rapid deactivation.