Homogeneous catalytic systems for selective oxidation of methane: state of the art

Abstract

Homogeneous catalysts for methane oxidation are of a particular interest from scientifi c and economic points of view. The results show a great potential for activation and functionalization of CH bonds of unreactive methane. There are still gaps in the knowledge of how to rationally design catalysts for this process. In this paper state-ofthe-art. in methane oxidation homogenous catalysis is presented.

Methylpalladium complexes with pyrimidine-functionalized N-heterocyclic carbene ligands

“…The Shilov system [ 12 – 17 ], had the disadvantage of using stoichiometric amounts of platinum for the reoxidation of the active catalyst and the platinum bispyrimidine system [ 18 – 20 ] was not successful because of the large amounts of diluted sulfuric acids as the byproduct of the methanol synthesis. Sen reported the activity of palladium(II) catalysts for the oxidation of methane [ 21 ] and several groups contributed to the progress in the field which is summarized in recent reviews [ 22 – 23 ]. The system based on N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands developed in our group uses a mixture of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and its anhydride (TFAA) as solvents.…”