Styrene was found to yield saturated and unsaturated linear oligomers in the presence of a surface‐supported catalyst, molybdenum oxide on silica‐alumina. The reaction rates, the structure, and the molecular weight distribution of the products were found to be controlled by the choice of the solvent. Higher‐molecular‐weight fractions were favored in isooctane, whereas low‐molecular‐weight oligomers were preferred in dioxane. The reaction followed first‐order kinetics with respect to the monomer. End‐group analysis suggests a probable cationic mechanism. Approximate transfer constants KtrKp were deduced from product distribution data. The behavior of the surface‐supported catalyst was compared with other cationic catalyst systems.
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Kumar et al. (1983) studied this question.