Patent ID: 7279609

Claim:
A process for the trimerization of α-olefins of 3 or more carbon atoms, comprising: reacting an α-olefin of 3 or more carbon atoms or a hydrocarbon mixture which contains α-olefins at a temperature ranging from 0 to 150° C. and a pressure ranging from 1 to 200 bar in the presence of a catalyst, which is a combination of: a) a compound RMX 3 , wherein R is a cyclopentadienyl group, some or all of whose hydrogen atoms are optionally substituted by identical or different alkyl groups, and/or aryl groups, and wherein 2 substituents together optionally form a saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon chain, M is titanium, zirconium or hafnium, and the groups X, independently of one another, are abstractable opposite ions, and b) at least one activating additive, which is selected from the group consisting of metal alkyls, some of whose alkyl groups are optionally replaced by halogen and/or alkoxy, alkylaluminoxanes, boron compounds and mixtures thereof, thereby effecting the trimerization of the α-olefin reactant.