The direct conversion of light alkanes into value-added commodities is of great economic importance. At present, high temperatures (200-600 <b>°C</b>) and/or elevated pressures (typically 5-50 bar) are typically needed to facilitate the reaction, which requires large-scale infrastructures to accommodate the tortuous energetic pathways, hindering their implementation on small-scale and distributed productions. In this work, we report an aqueous reaction system capable of selectively converting light alkanes into corresponding olefins and oxygenates at room temperature and ambient pressure using Cu powder as catalyst and O2 as oxidant. In ethane activation, we achieved a combined production of ethylene and acetic acid at a rate of 2.27 mmol gCu−1 h−1, with a combined selectivity up to 97%. Propane is converted to propene with a selectivity up to 94% with a production rate of 1.83 mmol gCu−1 h−1, while methane is converted mainly to carbon dioxide, methanol and acetic acid. Based on catalytic experiments, spectroscopic insights and density functional theory calculations, we put forward mechanistic understandings in which C-H bond is activated by surface oxide species generated during oxidation process forming alkyl groups as key reaction intermediates.

Activation of light alkane at room temperature and ambient pressure

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