Selective oxidation of methane and ethane over Li+-MgO-Cl− catalysts promoted with metal oxides

The addition of SnO2, La2O3, Nd2O3 or Dy2O3 to a Li+-MgO-Cl− catalyst significantly improves the activity for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane, while maintaining a high selectivity for ethylene. Over a Dy2O3/Li+-MgO-Cl− catalyst 75% conversion of ethane with 76% selectivity to ethene was achieved at 570 °C after 25 h on stream. This catalyst also is reasonably active and selective for the oxidative coupling of methane at 600 °C.