Selective oxidation of methane to methanol catalyzed, with C-H activation, by homogeneous, cationic gold.

Some of the most efficient homogeneous catalysts for the lowtemperature, selective oxidation of methane to functionalized products employ a mechanism involving C H activation with an electrophilic substitution mechanism. Several such systems have been reported based on the cations Hg, Pd, and Pt. These catalyst systems typically operate by two general steps that involve: A) C H activation by coordination of the methane to the inner sphere of the catalyst (E) followed by cleavage of the C Hbond by overall electrophilic substitution to generate E CH3 intermediates, and B) oxidative functionalization involving redox reactions of E CH3 to generate the desired oxidized product CH3X. [4a]