A Study of the Catalytic Oxidative Oligomerization of Methane to Aromatics

The formation of aromatics during the reaction between methane and oxygen between 970 and 1220K, at elevated pressure has been studied. High selectivities and yields of the aromatics, i. e. benzene and toluene, are obtained over certain oxide catalysts, although, aromatics are also formed when no catalyst is present. A manganese oxide catalyst doped with sodium chloride gave the highest yield of aromatics, however, supported nickel or platinum catalysts, which have been reported to be active catalysts for aromatics formation, were found to give lower yields of aromatics than for the gas-phase reaction. The mechanism for the production of aromatics has been investigated. © 1994 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved