A process for preparing 1-
hexene which comprises trimerizing
ethylene in a 1-
hexene solvent in the presence of a catalyst
system prepared by contacting in a 1-
hexene solvent the following components (A), (B), (C) and (D):(A) a
chromium-containing compound represented by the general formula: CrXkYm wherein X is a residue of a
carboxylic acid, a residue of a 1,3-
diketone, a
halogen atom or an alkoxyl group, k is an integer of 2 to 4, Y in Ym is an amine compound, a
phosphine compound, a
phosphine oxide compound, a nitrosyl group or an
ether compound and m is an integer of 0 to 6, with the proviso that any two Y's may be same or different;(B) trialkylaluminum or dialkylaluminum
hydride;(C) a
pyrrole compound or a derivative thereof;(D) a group 13 (IIIB)-
halogen compound represented by the general formula: MTtU3-t or a group 14 (IVB)-
halogen compound represented by the general formula: M'Tt'U4-t' wherein M is an atom from the group 13 (IIIB), M' is an atom from the group 14(IVB), T is an
alkyl group, an
aryl group, an allyl group or a
hydrogen atom, U is a halogen atom, t is a real number of 0 or more and less than 3 and t' is a real number of 0 or more and less than 4.