Selective oxidative dehydrogenation of propane to propene using boron nitride catalysts

TLDR

Propene, a high‑volume chemical mainly produced from naphtha, faces supply shortages, making direct propane conversion attractive despite current methods yielding excess CO and CO₂. The study explores direct propane oxidation with oxygen to produce propene, aiming to reduce CO/CO₂ by using boron nitride catalysts. The authors report that boron nitride, normally unreactive, achieves high selectivity to propene (77%) and ethene (13%). Published in Science (p.

Abstract

Boron nitride catalysis Propene is one of the highest-volume organic chemicals produced. Propene has mainly been made from naphtha, but changes in the global supply chain are creating shortages. Direct conversion from propane, a component of natural gas, via reaction with oxygen is an attractive alternative, but existing approaches produce a large fraction of unwanted CO and CO 2 . Grant et al. report that boron nitride, normally an unreactive material, has high selectivity to catalyze the production of propene (77%) and ethene (13%). Science , this issue p. 1570