Research Challenges in Selective Oxidation

Catalytic oxidative dehydrogenation ofn-butane

“…), because the present-day chemical industry depends heavily on the use of olefins as starting MADEIRA AND PORTELA 248 materials. Indeed, the petrochemical industry's tendency seems to be the direct use of alkanes as raw materials instead of alkenes, due to the great abundance of natural gas and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) (2)(3)(4)(5). Consequently, more recent studies and research, in an effort to meet future needs for chemical products, fibers and polymers, have focused on functionalization of paraffins instead of conversion of olefins.…”

“…In the mid-1960s, among other large-scale catalyzed reactions, dehydrogenations of butane to butenes and/or butadiene and ethylbenzene to styrene became prominent (9). In 1991, among the 147 billion pounds of organic products obtained via catalytic processes by the 50 top chemical industries in the United States, 9.8% were produced by dehydrogenation (3).…”

“…The kinetic expressions are most usually of the power law type and are applicable within a limited experimental range (3).…”

Heterogeneous catalysis with continuous flow microreactors

“…One of the challenges is the control of selectivity to prevent secondary oxidation. 30 Continuous flow microreactors allow for precise control of temperature, pressure, and ratio of oxygen to other reagents, therefore provide opportunities for selectivity control. In addition, the ability of continuous scanning of reaction parameters renders efficient optimization of reaction conditions and rapid screening of catalytic materials.…”

Singlet Oxygen- and Hole-Mediated Selective Oxidation of Arylethylenes to Aryltetralones by Ag/Ag3PO4 under Visible Light Irradiation

“…Selective oxidation is a fundamental reaction toward many valuable fine chemicals. 1,2 The selective oxidation of arylethylenes to 4-aryltetralones, which involves oxidative coupling of two substrate molecules followed by oxygenation, 3 is an important transformation due to the abundance of the substrates and the pharmaceutically active products analogous to natural lignans. 4−10 Although this cascade approach has been realized traditionally using stoichiometric oxidants and under relatively harsh conditions, 11−13 photocatalysis using molecular oxygen as the oxidant and operating under very mild conditions represents a new direction.…”