Direct Conversion of Ethane to Ethanol by Engineered Cytochrome P450 BM3

摘要

Most natural gas sources remain untapped as energy and chemical feedstocks.A catalyst for the selective oxidation of gaseous alkanes into more easily transported alcohols could allow these reserves to be exploited.Although catalytic alkane hydroxylation has been reported by many groups,selective conversion of ethane and methane mainly to their corresponding alcohols has yet to be demonstrated.For example,limited (i.e.< 500 total turnovers) catalytic ethane oxidation is supported by a variety of transition metal catalysts,but these systems produce mixtures containing significant amounts of acet-aldehyde and acetic acid in addition to ethanol.