High-Density Lewis Acid Sites in Porous Single-Crystalline Monoliths to Enhance Propane Dehydrogenation at Reduced Temperatures.

The non-oxidative dehydrogenation of propane to propylene plays an important role in the light-olefin chemical industry. However, the conversion and selectivity remain a fundamental challenge at low temperatures. Here we create and engineer high-density Lewis acid sites at well-defined surfaces in porous single-crystalline Mo N and MoN monoliths to enhance the non-oxidative dehydrogenation of propane to propylene. The top-layer Mo ions with unsaturated Mo-N and Mo-N coordination structures provide high-density Lewis acid sites at the surface, leading to the effective activation of C-H bonds without the overcracking of C-C bonds during the non-oxidative dehydrogenation of propane. We demonstrate a propane conversion of ≈11 % and a propylene selectivity of ≈95 % with porous single-crystalline Mo N and MoN monoliths at 500 °C.