Patent ID: 8362312

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 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; wherein said metathesis catalyst is selected from the group consisting of Schrock catalysts, molybdenum catalysts, tungsten oxide catalysts, rhenium oxide catalysts, and mixtures thereof; wherein said reacting with a hydrogen transfer catalyst is carried out at a temperature of 120to 250° C.; and wherein said reacting with a metathesis catalyst is carried out at a temperature of 30 to 100° C.