Olefins primary 1-alkene insertions

Pioneering studies by Emmet suggested in 1953 that ethylene acts as a chain initiator in Fe-catalyzed Fischer-Tropsch reactions. Many authors have used isotopi-cally labeled olefins to confirm that 1-alkenes are the primary reaction products (although they are thermodynamically instable under the reaction conditions). For instance, Somorjai s group has shown, using a polycrystalline iron sheet (1 cm ), that the addition of ethylene or propene in the syn gas increases the length of the polymer chain. These olefins readsorb and readily form polymers by insertion into adsorbed C fragments. Thus, the Fischer-Tropsch mechanism involves two steps, namelly the formation of olefins and their polymerization ... 

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