Catalytic hydrocarbon reactions over supported metal oxides. Final report, August 1, 1986--July 31, 1995

Oxide catalysis plays a central role in hydrocarbon processing and improvements in catalytic activity or selectivity are of great technological importance because these improvements will translate directly into more efficient utilization of hydrocarbon supplies and lower energy consumption in separation processes. An understanding of the relationships between surface structure and catalytic properties is needed to describe and improve oxide catalysts. The approach has been to prepare supported oxides that have a specific structure and oxidation state and then employ these structures in reaction studies. The current research program is focused on studying the fundamental relationships between structure and reactivity for two important reactions that are present in many oxide-catalyzed processes, partial oxidation and carbon-carbon bond formation. During the course of these studies the author has: (1) developed methods to form and stabilize various Mo and W oxide structures on silica; (2) studied C-H abstraction reactions over the fully oxidized cations; (3) studied C-C bond coupling by metathesis and reductive coupling of aldehydes and ketones over reduced cation structures; and (4) initiated a study of hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis over reduced cation structures