Status and Prospects of the Halogen-Mediated Catalytic Processes for Natural Gas Upgrading

Status and Prospects of the Halogen-Mediated Catalytic Processes for Natural Gas Upgrading

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Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Development of catalytic technologies enabling the direct functionalization of light alkanes, main components of abundant natural gas, into valuable and transportable liquid chemicals and fuels is quite possibly the winning strategy to transit from the oil to the renewables era.^[1] Halogen‑mediated activation of methane, ethane, and propane might offer the potential to confront this quest head on using compact chemical plants amenable to decentralization.^[1,2] Nevertheless, its industrialization has been constrained by several hurdles related to the necessity of achieving a complete halogen recycle, maximizing the yield of the intermediate haloalkanes, and tailoring the performance in their subsequent coupling into commodities. In this lecture, we will discuss the recent advances in catalytic processes aiming to overcome these challenges, which is accomplished through the synergy between catalyst synthesis, advanced operandocharacterization tools, and ab-initio calculations that enable to derive structure‑performance relationships, guiding optimal catalyst design.^[1-3] Building on this progress, environmental and economic footprints of halogen‑based technologies will be analyzed with respect to alternative routes for natural gas valorization, together with future research directions that can kindle scientific advancements with societal impact.

References

[1] R. Lin, A. P. Amrute, J. Pérez-Ramírez, Chem. Rev.2017,117, 4182‑4247.

[2] a) M. Moser, I. Czekaj, N. Lõpez, J. Pérez-Ramírez, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2014, 53, 8628‑8633; b) V. Paunović, G. Zichittella, M. Moser, A. P. Amrute, J. Pérez-Ramírez, Nat. Chem.2016, 8, 803‑809; c) V. Paunović, G. Zichittella, R. Verel, A. P. Amrute, J. Pérez-Ramírez, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2016,55, 15619‑15623; d) V. Paunović, R. Lin, M. Scharfe, A. P. Amrute, S. Mitchell, R. Hauert, J. Pérez-Ramírez, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2017,56, 9791‑9795; e) G. Zichittella, N. Aellen, V. Paunović, A. P. Amrute, J. Pérez‑Ramírez, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2017, 56, 13670‑13674.

[3] a) G. Zichittella, V. Paunović, A. P. Amrute, J. Pérez-Ramírez, ACS Catal.2017, 7, 1805‑1817; b) V. Paunović, G. Zichittella, S. Mitchell, R. Hauert, J. Pérez-Ramírez, ACS Catal.2018, 291‑303; c) V. Paunović, P. Hemberger, A. Bodi, N. López, J. Pérez-Ramírez, Nat. Catal.2018, 1, 363–370.

Corresponding author email: jpr@chem.ethz.ch