Pt-catalyzed oxidative carbonylation of methane to acetic acid in sulfuric acid

✍ Scribed by Mark Zerella; Alexis T. Bell

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 164 KB
• Volume: 259
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1381-1169
• DOI: 10.1016/j.molcata.2006.06.059

✦ Synopsis

The oxidative carbonylation of methane to acetic acid was investigated using Pt(II) cations as the catalyst and sulfuric acid as the solvent. The reactions were carried out at 180 • C in a sealed batch reactor containing either fuming or concentrated (96 wt%) sulfuric acid (3 ml) and PtCl 2 (20 mM) in the liquid-phase, and pressurized with CH 4 (400 psi) and CO (400 psi). In the absence of CO, the only product is methyl bisulfate, but in the presence of CO, this product undergoes carbonylation to acetic acid. CO also serves as a reducing agent and can reduce the catalytically active Pt(II) to Pt(0), which is inactive. The catalyst activity can be increased by promoting the re-oxidation using co-catalyst, such as CuCl 2 and O 2 . Thus, a balance must be maintained between oxidizing and reducing conditions in order to minimize or avoid the loss of Pt(II).