Ethylene oxide selectivity trends

Beside methanol and formaldehyde, the oxidation of methane may be directed to another route, leading to the formation of its condensation products, for example, ethane, ethylene and benzene. This route may provide an alternative way for the chemical use of natural sources of methane. Here, various catalysts were also tested using both 02 and N20 as the oxidants [22], The general picture observed by most authors was similar to that with methane oxidation to oxygenates. The conversion of methane was always higher with 02 than with N20. However, the selectivity to the coupling products showed an opposite trend. 

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