The abundance of low-cost natural gas has fueled interest in expanding the use of natural gas as a feedstock for the production of chemical intermediates, as well as in developing alternative pathways to convert methane into higher-value petrochemicals.
Methane makes up about 90% of wellhead natural gas. Today, methane is used as a feedstock to produce ammonia, methanol, and hydrogen. Due to its stability, however, it is not currently converted directly into petrochemicals.
A research team led by chemists at the Univ. of Pennsylvania has come up with a way around methane’s stubbornness. The team has developed a catalyst that borylates methane so that the borylated carbon can subsequently be converted into longer-chain alkanes more easily than the unborylated gas.
“Finding ways to use methane besides burning it as a fuel constitutes a practical approach to using this abundant gas,” says Daniel Mindiola, Presidential Professor in the Dept. of Chemistry at the Univ. of Pennsylvania....
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