Isolated Boron in Zeolite for Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Propane

Isolating and stabilizing boron Oxidative dehydrogenation of propane can produce propene from shale gas and help to replace petroleum as a propene feedstock. Boron-based catalysts can have high selectivity to propene, but the water by-product can deactivate the catalyst by hydrolyzing boron. Zhou et al. synthesized boron-doped silicate zeolites containing isolated boron sites that were stable against hydrolysis. The catalyst could achieve one-pass propane conversions up to ∼44% with selectivities for propene and >80% for ethene. They observed no deactivation after a 210-hour continuous test. Science , this issue p. 76