Microporous metal oxides for the oxidation of alkanes to primary alcohols

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The development of novel catalysts for selective oxidation reactions is an area of decisive importance for both industry and academia. In fact, there is a major need for: (i) catalysts capable of delivering energy-efficient processes with enhanced selectivity to a desired product and (ii) oxidation routes that make use of air (molecular oxygen) for greener manufacturing processes. To achieve these results, this proposal will develop novel structured microporous metal oxides to use as catalysts. These novel materials will be targeted to the synthesis of primary alcohols from alkanes using molecular oxygen as oxidant. Primary alcohols play a crucial role in chemistry, as they are essential building blocks for the pharmaceutical, food additives and cosmetics industries. However, a full range of primary alcohols is difficult to obtain synthetically, or to extract from natural sources.All of the current catalysts for alkane oxidation lack control of selectivity to a desired alcohol product, with the exception of a few bacteria capable of catalytic monohydroxylation. These can selectively functionalise C-H bonds at the end of a hydrocarbon chain without attacking more reactive C-H bonds within the carbon chain. Therefore, a new paradigm for selective oxidation of alkanes to primary alcohols is necessary and would be of immense importance. In fact, this would also convert alkanes from a non-renewable fossil fuel source into a useful chemical synthesis feedstock. Thus these new microporous metal oxides will deliver shape-selective control of reactivity combined with redox chemistry, as in enzymatic systems.This project will also investigate the fundamental catalytic mechanisms using an array of spectroscopic tools including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance, as well as X-ray diffraction methods. These insights will deliver a new alcohol manufacturing technology that will be of benefit for the UK industry, as well as the design of materials that will impact areas beyond catalysis, e.g. materials science, spectroscopy, biomimetic synthesis and chemical engineering.