Catalytic activity of methanol in all-vapor subsecond clathrate-hydrate formation

Methanol's property as a catalyst in the formation of gas clathrate hydrates has been recognized for several years and was recently employed in a broad ranging study [K. Shin, K. A. Udachin, I. L. Moudrakovski, D. M. Leek, S. Alavi, C. I. Ratcliffe, and J. A. Ripmeester, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 110, 8437 (2013)]. A new measure of that activity is offered here from comparative rates of formation of methanol (MeOH) clathrate hydrates within our all-vapor aerosol methodology for which tetrahydrofuran (THF) and other small ethers have set a standard for catalytic action. We have previously described numerous examples of the complete conversion of warm all-vapor mixtures to aerosols of gas clathrate hydrates on a sub-second time scale, generally with the catalyst confined primarily to the large cage of either structure-I (s-I) or structure-II (s-II) hydrates. THF has proven to be the most versatile catalyst for the complete subsecond conversion of water to s-II hydrate nanocrystals that follows pulsing of appropriate warm vapor mixtures into a cold chamber held in the 140-220 K range. Here, the comparative ability of MeOH to catalyze the formation of s-I hydrates in the presence of a small-cage help-gas, CO2 or acetylene, is examined. The surprising result is that, in the presence of either help gas, CH-formation rates appear largely unchanged by a complete replacement of THF by MeOH in the vapor mixtures for a chamber temperature of 170 K. However, as that temperature is increased, the dependence of effective catalysis by MeOH on the partial pressure of help gases also increases. Nevertheless, added MeOH is shown to markedly accelerate the s-II THF-CO2 CH formation rate at 220 K.