Combinatorial heterogeneous catalysis: oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene, selective oxidation of ethane to acetic acid, and selective ammoxidation of propane to acrylonitrile

The application of combinatorial methods to three reactions catalyzed by multimetal oxides is described. Catalysts for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene were tested using a 121- or 144-channel scanning mass spectrometer primary screening reactor and a 48-channel fixed bed secondary screening reactor; catalysts for the selective oxidation of ethane to acetic acid were tested using a 256-channel massively parallel microfluidic reactor primary screen alone, and catalysts for the selective ammoxidation of propane to acrylonitrile were tested using the massively parallel microfluidic reactor and an eight-channel fixed bed secondary/tertiary screening reactor. The details regarding catalyst design, synthesis, and screening are presented. This work has resulted in both the confirmation of published results and the generation of new lead materials for all three chemistries.