This paper describes the codimerization of n-butenes with allylic halides such as cinnamyl chloride and crotyl chloride. The highly active catalyst RhCl3 center dot 3H(2)O was investigated, resulting 70% yield of codimers with cinnamyl chloride and 1-butene. Furthermore, the reaction is dependent on the molar ratio of allylic chloride to RhCl3 center dot 3H(2)O ratio, where a ratio of 75:1 is optimal at a catalyst concentration of 2 mol%. Additionally allylic compounds such as cinnamyl chloride lead to higher yields of the codimer than other short chained allylic chlorides. So the codimerization of an allylic compound with 1-butene represents a simple method to produce short chained dienes at very mild reaction conditions. (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.