Kinetics of the ethylene trimerization reaction on a homogeneous chromium-pyrrole catalyst

The results of studying the kinetics of the reaction of ethylene trimerization under the action of a homogeneous chromium-pyrrole catalyst have been presented. It has been shown that the reaction order with respect to ethylene decreases from 1.4 to a value close to 1 within 15 min after the start of the reaction, which is explained by the presence of two types of catalytic centers that catalyze the reactions of the first and second order with respect to ethylene. A model that includes the degradation of the second type of the catalyst during the reaction and inhibition of the activity of the first-type catalyst by the products has been proposed.