A series of chromium(iii) complexes ligated by N^N^N tridentate 2-quinoxalinyl-6-iminopyridine were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis and infrared spectroscopy. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis for the structure of complex C3 reveals a distorted octahedral geometry. When methylaluminoxane was employed as the co-catalyst, the chromium complexes showed high activities for ethylene oligomerization and polymerization. The distribution of oligomers obtained followed Schulz–Flory rules with high selectivity for α-olefins. Both steric and electronic effects of coordinated ligands affected the catalytic activities as well as the properties of the catalytic products. The parameters of the reaction conditions were also investigated to explore the optimum catalytic potentials of these complexes.