Activation of Light Alkanes on Sulfated Zirconia

AbstractThe present contribution reviews recent experiments of our group towards the synthesizing and understanding of highly reactive sulfate‐modified zirconia. It is shown that in the absence of Pt, the catalytic activity depends upon the ability to oxidize a small fraction of the alkanes to alkenes. The alkenes form sec‐carbenium ions with Brønsted acid sites and isomerize via carbenium ion/alkoxy intermediates. Alkane activation/conversion propagates through hydride transfer from n‐butane to the tert‐butyl carbenium ion. A kinetic model accounting for the elementary steps is proposed and catalyst preparation strategies are reported.