Skeletal Isomerisation of 1-Butene on Tungsten Oxide Catalysts

Article abstract of DOI:10.1006/jcat.1995.1161

Several γ-Al2O3-supported tungsten oxide catalysts have been studied in the skeletal isomerisation of 1-butene.It appears that the presence of small tungsten oxide particles induces skeletal isomerisation.Large particles can be activated by prereduction treatment with hydrogen.It was shown that the selectivity and stability of the catalysts depend strongly on the tungstate loading.A sudden increase in selectivity is observed when dimeric WO^2-4 species are formed.A low density of active sites presents deactivation, which is caused by carbonization of the catalyst due to oligomerisation of isobutene.The main by-products, C₃ and C₅ hydrocarbons, arise from the dimerisation and cracking of isobutene.