Boron-based oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (ODHP)
is emerging
as a promising protocol because of its efficient conversion to propene,
while the correlation between the structures of boron-containing materials
and their catalytic activity remains unclear. In this work, by means
of density functional theory calculations, the mechanism of ODHP on
the surface of boron phosphate (BPO4) was studied. Three
types of surface sites, the tri- (>B-OH, 3coord-B) and tetra- (BOH,
4coord-B) coordinated oxygenated boron sites and the phosphate site
(POH, 4coord-P), were considered; the calculations indicated
that under ODH conditions, all of them can display reactivity, and
it is marginally harder to dehydrogenate the >BOH site (62.0 kcal/mol)
compared to the BOH (4coord-B, 57.8 kcal/mol) and POH
(61.1 kcal/mol) sites, while the nascent >B–O• is
more
active than the B–O• and P–O•
species in the subsequent dehydrogenation of propane (ΔG
≠ = 17.5 (17.3), 19.2 (16.3), 28.7 (17.6)
kcal/mol, respectively). Similar to that on boron oxide (B2O3), the reaction on the catalyst surface proceeds in
a stepwise manner, but with a higher free energy barrier to the rate-determining
step on BPO4, implicating a lower reactivity of BPO4 than that of B2O3. By imposing various
surface geometric constraints, which introduce a mechanical force
on the active site and modulate its ability to construct a hydrogen
bond network with the neighboring polar groups, the free energy barrier
to the dehydrogenation of the active site decreases, indicating that
the mechanical forces in the local environment favor the triggering
of the reaction. This work enriches our understanding of boron-based
ODHP systems and benefits the rational design and optimization of
boron-based catalysts.