Isotopic Tracer Studies of Reaction Pathways for Propane Oxidative Dehydrogenation on Molybdenum Oxide Catalysts

Abstract

Kinetic analysis and isotopic tracer studies were used to identify the elementary steps and their reversibility in the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane over ZrO2-supported MoOx catalysts. Competitive reactions of C3H6 and CH313CH2CH3 showed that propene is the most abundant primary product, and that CO and CO2 are formed via either secondary combustion of propene, or by direct combustion of propane. A mixture of C3H8 and C3D8 undergoes oxidative dehydrogenation without forming C3H8-xDx mixed isotopomers, suggesting that steps involving C−H bond activation are irreversible. Normal kinetic isotopic effects (kC-H/kC-D) were measured for propane dehydrogenation (2.3), propane combustion (1.6) and propene combustion (2.1). These data indicate that the kinetically relevant steps in propane dehydrogenation and propene combustion involve the dissociation of C−H bonds in the respective reactant. H−D exchange occurs readily between C3H6 and D2O or C3D6 and H2O, suggesting that OH recombination steps are reversi...