Decene formation in the ethylene trimerization reaction was studied using a chromium(III) 2-ethylhexanoate/2,5-dimethylpyrrole/triethylaluminum/diethylaluminum chloride catalyst system. Kinetic investigations revealed that some decene formation reactions did not depend on 1-hexene concentration, because 1-hexene and catalyst may react with ethylene before dissociation of 1-hexene-catalyst complex after 1-hexene formation. The results demonstrated that decene formation is an intrinsic part of the trimerization reaction mechanism. It was also shown that a stepwise elimination mechanism for the decomposition of the chromacycloheptane intermediate cannot explain the observed product distribution. The dependencies found allow selection of appropriate conditions for low or high decene formation in the ethylene trimerization reaction. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.