The efficient and selective partial oxidation of light alkanes using potassium periodate and potassium chloride is reported. Yields of methane functionalization in trifluoroacetic acid reach >40% with high selectivity for methyl trifluoroacetate. Periodate and chloride also functionalize ethane and propane in good yields (>20%).

Partial oxidation of propylene was investigated at 1 atm pressure over Rh/TiO(2) catalysts as a function of reaction temperature, metal loading and particle size using high-throughput methods. Catalysts were prepared by ablating thin sheets of pure rhodium metal using an excimer laser and by collecting the nanoparticles created on the external surfaces of TiO(2) pellets that were placed inside ...

Deactivation kinetics of a V/Ti-oxide catalyst was studied in partial oxidation of toluene to benzaldehyde (BA) and benzoic acid (BAc) at 523–573 K. The catalyst consisted of 0.37 monolayer of VOx species and after oxidative pre-treatment contained isolated monomeric and polymeric metavanadate-like vanadia species under dehydrated conditions as was shown by FT Raman spectroscopy. Under the reac...

Photosynthesis of green plants, algae and cyanobacteria is powered by sunlight. It uses water as ultimate donor of electrons for the reduction of CO2 to yield carbohydrates. Photosystem II (PS II), a water^ plastoquinone oxidoreductase, is the key enzyme of oxygenic photosynthesis. It is an integral protein of the thylakoid membrane. PS II is functionally bipartite, its photosynthetic reaction ...

Natural gas is catalytically converted into several bulk chemicals such as ammonia, methanol, dimethyl ether, and synthetic liquid fuels by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and similar processes. The main step in the conversion of natural gas to these products is the production of synthesis gas with the desired composition ranging from H2/CO = 3:1 used for the production of ammonia to the 1:1 mixture ...

Atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction have been used to characterize the structural evolution of the MoO3(010) surface during gas phase reactions with nitrogen-alcohol (methanol, ethanol, and 2-propanol) mixtures between 200 and 400◦C. Our results demonstrate that MoO3 intercalates H during these reactions (T≥ 300◦C) and that protonation leads to the precipitation of a well known hydrog...