The catalytic cracking of n-hexane to selectively produce propylene on the MCM-22 catalysts dealuminated by nitric acid treatment was carried out as a model reaction of naphtha cracking. The nitric acid treatment of MCM-22 precursors under severe conditions followed by calcination at 823 K has been proven to be an effective dealumination method for MCM-22 zeolite. At a high n-hexane conversion of 90%, the dealuminated MCM-22 (D-MCM-22) catalyst with Si/Al= 34 showed a higher propylene selectivity (41 C-%) than H-ZSM-5 and H-Beta catalysts with similar acid amounts. Moreover, D-MCM-22 showed a stability comparable to H-ZSM-5 and much higher than H-Beta catalyst. This would be due to the selective removal of acid sites within supercages, suppressing coke formation and the resultant deactivation. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.