In this paper, we introduce the notion of a pre-Lie 2-algebra, which is a
categorification of a pre-Lie algebra. We prove that the category of pre-Lie
2-algebras and the category of 2-term pre-Lieββ-algebras are equivalent.
We classify skeletal pre-Lie 2-algebras by the third cohomology of a pre-Lie
algebra. We prove that crossed modules of pre-Lie algebras are in one-to-one
correspondence with strict pre-Lie 2-algebras. O-operators on Lie
2-algebras are introduced, which can be used to construct pre-Lie 2-algebras.
As an application, we give solutions of 2-graded classical Yang-Baxter
equations in some semidirect product Lie 2-algebras.Comment: 22 page