RUDN chemist created catalysts for conversion of oil and gas to alcohols

A chemist from RUDN University has created copper-based catalysts that do not require high pressure and temperature in the synthesis of carboxylic acids and alcohols from oil and gas. They are important for the production of polymers, medicines, perfumes and other products of the chemical industry. This will help reduce energy costs and use simpler equipment. The article was published in the journal Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry.

Alcohols, ketones and carboxylic acids—the most important petrochemical products—are derived from natural raw materials: oil and gas. However, the primary transformation of natural hydrocarbons requires high temperature and pressure. Therefore, synthesis requires expensive equipment, high energy costs and increased safety measures.

Alexander Kirillov, a chemist from RUDN University, and his colleagues from Portugal have developed catalysts that allow the production of alcohols, ketones and carboxylic acids from hydrocarbons under much simpler conditions. They used natural enzymes containing copper ions as prototypes for the new catalysts. These enzymes include, for example, cytochrome oxidase, one of the key enzymes involved in energy metabolism in the body, or dopamine-β-hydroxylase, which transfers the hydroxyl group to dopamine, a neurotransmitter, turning it into norepinephrine.

Butyl diethanolamine and three types of carboxylic acids were chosen as ligands, since the copper ion is bound to oxygen (carboxylic acid) and nitrogen (amine) atoms in natural enzymes. To obtain alcohols and ketones, hydrogen peroxide was used as an oxidizing agent. In the synthesis of carboxylic acids, potassium persulfate was the oxidizing agent, and carbon monoxide was the carbon donor.

The reaction was successful at the atmospheric pressure and moderate temperature—50-60 degrees Celsius—in aqueous acetonitrile. The conversion percentage reached 41%, which is a very high value for chemically inert substrates such as hydrocarbons. In this case, the reaction products can be easily separated from each other and from the starting material by simple distillation.

The results can be used to develop new catalysts for the processing of hydrocarbon natural raw materials and to obtain valuable products of the oil industry.

Article:

Mild C−H Functionalization of Alkanes Catalyzed by Bioinspired Copper(II) Cores.

Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, 2019,17, 7706-7714, 29 July 2019
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2019/ob/c9ob01442j#!divAbstract

Research area: Organic chemistry

Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University).

Provided by RUDN University