Retrofitting Zr-Oxo Nodes of UiO-66 by Ru Single Atoms to Boost Methane Hydroxylation with Nearly Total Selectivity

Direct selective oxidation of methane (DSOM) to high value-added oxygenates under mild conditions is attracting considerable interest. Although state-of-the-art supported metal catalysts can improve methane conversion, it is still challenging to avoid the deep oxidation of oxygenates. Here, we develop a highly efficient metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)-supported single-atom Ru catalyst (Ru 1 /UiO-66) for the DSOM reaction using H 2 O 2 as an oxidant. It endows nearly 100% selectivity and an excellent turnover frequency of 185.4 h –1 for the production of oxygenates. The yield of oxygenates is an order of magnitude higher than that on UiO-66 alone and several times higher than that on supported Ru nanoparticles or other conventional Ru 1 catalysts, which show severe CO 2 formation. Detailed characterizations and density functional theory calculations reveal a synergistic effect between the electron-deficient Ru 1 site and the electron-rich Zr-oxo nodes of UiO-66 on Ru 1 /UiO-66. The Ru 1 site is responsible for the activation of CH 4 via the resulting Ru 1 ═O* species, while the Zr-oxo nodes undertake the formation of oxygenic radical species to produce oxygenates. In particular, the Zr-oxo nodes retrofitted by Ru 1 can prune the excess H 2 O 2 to inactive O 2 more than • OH species, helping to suppress the over-oxidation of oxygenates.