The testing of catalysts for alkane activation

Results of the cyclohexane tests carried out for longer times indicate that it is necessary to determine what happens to the oxidant during the reaction, since results suggest that oxidant is depleted even at low alcohol yields. If a more effective oxidant is found, yields should be significantly higher. Results with butane suggest that we may have a good test procedure for use with shorter chain alkanes. To be able to compare results from tests using cyclohexane and hexane to butane (and to future tests with ethane and methane), it will be necessary to determine the effects of different reactant concentrations and different reaction times and temperatures.