Aqueous Au-Pd colloids catalyze selective CH 4 oxidation to CH 3 OH with O 2 under mild conditions

Abstract

A radical route from methane to methanol: The conversion of methane into chemicals usually proceeds through high-temperature routes that first form more reactive carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Agarwal et al. report a low-temperature (50°C) route in aqueous hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) for oxidizing methane to methanol in high yield (92%). They used colloidal gold-palladium nanoparticles as a catalyst. The primary oxidant was O ₂ ; isotopic labeling showed that H ₂ O ₂ activated methane to methyl radicals, which subsequently incorporated O ₂ . Science , this issue p. 223