Does methane participate in the aromatization of higher alkanes?
Converting methane into more commercially useful chemicals is a challenge for modern catalysis. Recent studies suggest that the conversion of methane during co-aromatization with higher alkenes in the presence of high-silica zeolites reached as high as 20–40%. However, other experiments using 13C-labeled methane did not confirm the presence of 13C in the aromatization products. A. G. Stepanov and co-workers at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Novosibirsk) report that transfer of 13C from methane to the aromatic products occurs to a significant degree during co-conversion of methane and propane on zinc-modified high-silica zeolites. They characterized the process and established the mechanism of aromatization.
