Methane is the most abundant resource of organic carbon. However, many methane reserves are in remote locations, where the economy of scale for steam reformers cannot be realized and distances to chemical plants are too large for efficient transportation through pipelines. To provide an option for converting methane to liquid intermediates, we developed a bi-functional catalyst that combines Lewis acidity with redox activity. Methane is activated on Lewis acid sites, and under the right conditions, surface methyl groups can couple to higher alkyl chains. In the presence of steam surface alkyl groups can be hydrolyzed to alcohols. Specifically, methanol and ethanol were detected in our study. The redox active support activates O2 to convert surface bound hydrogen to water, providing a thermodynamic driving force for the reaction. Besides alcohols, CO2 and H2 are formed as by-products. Importantly, formation of alcohols occurs at 450 °C under steady state conditions with a turnover frequency of at least 50 h-1. This is a clear improvement from previously reported catalysts, which required a high-temperature calcination step for every turnover. The nature and synergy of active sites as well as the mechanism of the reaction will be discussed.

Direct conversion of methane to methanol and ethanol

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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