Patent ID: 7902417

Claim:
A method of converting at least one first alkane to a mixture of at least one lower molecular weight alkane and at least one higher molecular weight alkane, comprising: reacting a first alkane in the presence of a dual catalyst system comprising: (i) a hydrogen transfer catalyst and (ii) a metathesis catalyst to produce said mixture of at least one low molecular weight alkane and at least one high molecular weight alkane, said reacting step carried out at a temperature not greater than 300° C. and in the presence of a hydrogen acceptor, and wherein the molar ratio of said hydrogen acceptor to said hydrogen transfer catalyst is not greater than 10:1; wherein said hydrogen transfer catalyst is an iridium pincer complex catalyst; and wherein said metathesis catalyst is selected from the group consisting of Schrock catalysts, molybdenum catalysts, tungsten oxide catalysts, rhenium oxide catalysts, and mixtures thereof.