The catalytic properties of H-ferrierite zeolites, prepared by hydrothermal and dry-state synthesis, were compared in the skeletal isomerization of 1-butene. The activity was found to be strongly influenced by the presence of extra-framework Al (EFA1) species in the zeolite micropores and by the carbonaceous deposit formed during the reaction. The dynamics of mass transport in the zeolite crystallites were studied by the frequency-response (FR) method using acetylene, propane, n- and i- butane as probe molecules. The selectivity of n-butene conversion showed correlation with the dynamics of the n-butane sorption process. Either the diffusion or the sorption was the rate-controlling slowest step of n-butane mass transport, depending on the amount and the distribution of the EFA1 species in the sample. In the catalyst sample, free of EFA1, the transport was found to be controlled by the rate of sorption. At an EFA1 content of about 0.5-1.0 EFA1/unit cell the diffusion resistance of the micropores governed the n-butane transport rate. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.