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Catalyst design for natural-gas upgrading through oxybromination chemistry
Vladimir Paunović1, Guido Zichittella1, Maximilian Moser1
1Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 1, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
Nature Chemistry
|July 22, 2016
Summary
This study introduces an efficient oxybromination method for functionalizing methane, a key component of natural gas. Vanadium phosphate (VPO) catalysts achieve high selectivity for methyl bromide production under mild conditions.
Area of Science:
- Catalysis
- Chemical Engineering
- Materials Science
Background:
- Natural gas, rich in light alkanes, presents a valuable feedstock for chemicals and fuels.
- Selective C-H bond activation in hydrocarbons remains a significant challenge in catalysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel, one-step oxybromination method for methane functionalization.
- To identify optimal catalyst design strategies for integrating gas-phase alkane bromination and HBr oxidation.
Main Methods:
- Integration of gas-phase alkane bromination with heterogeneous HBr oxidation.
- Screening of various material families for catalytic performance.
- Evaluation of vanadium phosphate (VPO) catalysts for methane oxybromination.
Main Results:
- Vanadium phosphate (VPO) demonstrated superior performance as an oxybromination catalyst.
- Achieved up to 95% selectivity for methyl bromide (CH3Br) production.
- VPO catalysts exhibited stable operation exceeding 100 hours and high activity in HBr oxidation with low side-reaction propensity.
Conclusions:
- The developed oxybromination method offers an attractive route for methane valorization.
- VPO catalysts are highly effective for selective methane to methyl bromide conversion.
- Further research is needed for higher alkanes due to increased reaction complexity.
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