Vladimir Paunović

Catalyst design for natural-gas upgrading through oxybromination chemistry

Natural gas contains large volumes of light alkanes, and its abundant reserves make it an appealing feedstock for value-added chemicals and fuels. However, selectively activating the C-H bonds in these useful hydrocarbons is one of the greatest challenges in catalysis. Here we report an attractive oxybromination method for the one-step functionalization of methane under mild conditions that integrates gas-phase alkane bromination with heterogeneously catalysed HBr oxidation, a step that is usually executed separately. Catalyst-design strategies to provide optimal synergy between these two processes are discussed. Among many investigated material families, vanadium phosphate (VPO) is identified as the best oxybromination catalyst, as it provides selectivity for CH3Br up to 95% and stable operation for over 100 hours on stream. The outstanding performance of VPO is rationalized by its high activity in HBr oxidation and low propensity for methane and bromomethane oxidation. Data on the oxybromination of ethane and propane over VPO suggest that the reaction network for higher alkanes is more complex.

Europium Oxybromide Catalysts for Efficient Bromine Looping in Natural Gas Valorization

The industrialization of bromine-mediated natural gas upgrading is contingent on the ability to fully recycle hydrogen bromide (HBr), which is the end form of the halogen after the activation and coupling of the alkanes. Europium oxybromide (EuOBr) is introduced as a unique catalytic material to close the bromine loop via HBr oxidation, permitting low-temperature operation and long lifetimes with a stoichiometric feed (O2 :HBr=0.25)-conditions at which any catalyst reported to date severely deactivates because of excessive bromination. Besides, EuOBr exhibits unparalleled selectivity to methyl bromide in methane oxybromination, which is an alternative route for bromine looping. This novel active phase is finely dispersed on appropriate carriers and scaled up to technical extrudates, enhancing the utilization of the europium phase while preserving the performance. This catalytic system paves the way for sustainable valorization of stranded natural gas via bromine chemistry.

Oxychlorination–Dehydrochlorination Chemistry on Bifunctional Ceria Catalysts for Intensified Vinyl Chloride Production

Ceria catalyzes the one-step production of the vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) from ethylene with a high yield because of its bifunctional character: redox centers oxychlorinate ethylene to ethylene dichloride (EDC), which is subsequently dehydrochlorinated to VCM over strong acid sites generated in situ. Nanocrystalline CeO2 and CeO2-ZrO2 lead to a VCM yield of 25 % in a single pass, outperforming the best reported systems and reaching industrially attractive levels. The use of CeO2 intensifies the current two-step process within PVC production encompassing CuCl2 -catalyzed oxychlorination and thermal cracking. In addition, ceria-based materials offer stability advantages with respect to the archetypical CuCl2 -based catalysts.

Selective Production of Carbon Monoxide via Methane Oxychlorination over Vanadyl Pyrophosphate

A catalytic process is demonstrated for the selective conversion of methane into carbon monoxide via oxychlorination chemistry. The process involves addition of HCl to a CH4 -O2 feed to facilitate C-H bond activation under mild conditions, leading to the formation of chloromethanes, CH3 Cl and CH2 Cl2 . The latter are oxidized in situ over the same catalyst, yielding CO and recycling HCl. A material exhibiting chlorine evolution by HCl oxidation, high activity to oxidize chloromethanes into CO, and no ability to oxidize CO, is therefore essential to accomplish this target. Following these design criteria, vanadyl pyrophosphate (VPO) was identified as an outstanding catalyst, exhibiting a CO yield up to approximately 35 % at 96 % selectivity and stable behavior. These findings constitute a basis for the development of a process enabling the on-site valorization of stranded natural-gas reserves using CO as a highly versatile platform molecule.

Olefins from Natural Gas by Oxychlorination

Ethylene and propylene are the key building blocks of the chemical industry, but current processes are unable to close the growing gap between demand and manufacture. Reported herein is an exceptional europium oxychloride (EuOCl) catalyst for the selective (≥95 %) production of light olefins from ethane and propane by oxychlorination chemistry, thus achieving yields of ethylene (90 %) and propylene (40 %) unparalleled by any existing olefin production technology. Moreover, EuOCl is able to process mixtures of methane, ethane, and propane to produce the olefins, thereby reducing separation costs of the alkanes in natural gas. Finally, the EuOCl catalyst was supported on suitable carriers and evaluated in extrudate form, and preserves performance for >150 h under realistic process conditions.

Evidence of radical chemistry in catalytic methane oxybromination

AbstractUnravelling the pathways of catalytic methane functionalization sets the foundations for the efficient production of valuable chemicals and fuels from this abundant feedstock. The catalytic oxybromination of methane into platform compounds bromomethane and dibromomethane constitutes a prominent example, although it displays a puzzling reaction network that has been speculated to involve free-radical intermediates. Here, photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy with synchrotron radiation was used to provide evidence of the evolution of gaseous methyl and bromine radicals over (VO)2P2O7 and EuOBr catalysts and the strong correlation between the formation of methyl radicals and the production of bromomethanes. Complemented by kinetic data on methane oxybromination and non-catalytic methane bromination, these results imply the surface-catalysed generation of bromine radicals and molecular bromine followed by the gas-phase methane bromination, which is rationalized by density functional theory calculations. The findings emphasize the role of both surface and gas-phase steps in halogen-mediated C–H bond activation over heterogeneous catalysts.Catalytic oxybromination is an important strategy for the upgrade of methane. Here, Pérez-Ramírez and co-workers employ operando photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy as well as kinetic analyses and molecular simulations to unravel the complex reaction mechanism.

An Activated TiC-SiC Composite for Natural Gas Upgrading via Catalytic Oxyhalogenation

Alkane oxyhalogenation has emerged as an attractive catalytic route for selective natural gas functionalization to important commodity chemicals, such as methyl halides or olefins. However, few systems have been shown to be active and selective in these reactions. Here, we identify a novel and highly efficient TiC–SiC composite for methane and ethane oxyhalogenation. Detailed characterization elucidates the kinetics and mechanism of the selective activation under reaction conditions to yield TiO2–TiC–SiC. This catalyst outperforms bulk TiO2, one of the best reported catalysts, reaching up to 85 % selectivity and up to 3 times higher titanium‐specific space‐time‐yield of methyl halides or ethylene. This is attributed to the fact that the active TiO2 phase generated in situ is embedded in the thermally conductive SiC matrix, facilitating heat dissipation thus improving selectivity control.