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Photocoupling of Methane in Water Vapor to Saturated Hydrocarbons

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Abstract

Methane can be converted into alkanes (from C2 to C6) continuously by ultraviolet (185 nm) irradiation in the presence of water vapor. The products from this reaction are alkanes, which is different from the comparable heterogeneous catalytic reactions, where alkene formation is also observed. The mechanism involves the coupling of alkyl radicals formed by hydrogen abstraction with OH radicals produced following the UV irradiation of water.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority area (417) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of the Japanese Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Pure and Applied Science, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    JunePyo Oh, Taketoshi Matsumoto & Junji Nakamura

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  1. JunePyo Oh
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  2. Taketoshi Matsumoto
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  3. Junji Nakamura
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Correspondence to Junji Nakamura.

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Oh, J., Matsumoto, T. & Nakamura, J. Photocoupling of Methane in Water Vapor to Saturated Hydrocarbons. Catal Lett 124, 215–218 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-008-9477-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-008-9477-6

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