The formation of base oil components by the hydroconversion of long-chain n-paraffins [i.e., n-octacosane (n-C-28), n-hexatriacontane (n-C-36), and n-tetratetracontane (n-C-44)] on a 0.3% Pt/ amorphous silica-alumina catalyst in a stirred microautoclave was investigated. The reaction pathway of hydroconversion, formation of base oil components, and kinetics were determined. The reaction can be described by a reaction network in which the conversion of n-paraffins occurs by three competitive reactions that directly lead to the formation of cracking products and two pseudocomponents: iso-C-n lube (i.e., lump of isoparaffins with sufficiently low pour points to make them suitable for a base oil) and iso-C-n nolube (i.e., lump of isoparaffins with pour points that are too high, making them unsuitable for a base oil). During reaction, the iSO-C-n nolube fraction is converted into iso-C-n lube through subsequent hydroisomerization reactions. Both iso-C-n lube and iso-C-n nolube pseudocomponents further react to give cracking products. The conversion rate constants showed a significant decrease with increasing chain length, whereas the energies of activation did not display any significant change. A consistent decrease of iso-C-n and iso-C-n lube selectivity for longer chain lengths was observed, whereas reaction temperature was not found to play a significant role in determining the maximum yields of both iSO-C-n and iso-C-n lube that could be achieved.