Radical-Initiated Functionalization of Methane and Ethane in Fuming Sulfuric Acid

摘要

Methane and ethane are the least reactive and the most abundant of the hydrocarbon family with known reserves equal to that of petroleum. Thus, the selective oxidative functionalization of these alkanes to more useful chemical products is of great practical interest. Recently, building on a previous report, a high-yield system for the oxidation of methane to a methanol derivative was described by Catalytica. The system consists of Hg(II) ion in 100% sulfuric acid and operates at 180 °C.